Above and Beyond
by ginnyjaffa
Summary: What happens when Lily and James die and go to heaven? How do they feel about being in heaven while Harry is on earth, fighting Voldemort alone? This is the story of their afterlife, and the people who arrive over time.
1. Prologue

**This story started as just one of those random ideas that got stuck in my head and didn't leave until I wrote it down. This is my first fanfic so don't be too cruel!**

**Enjoy**

**I don't own Harry Potter, only this storyline. No copyright infringement is intended**

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**Prologue**

**LILY **

"Lily, it's him! Take Harry and run!"

I froze. _No, no, no, no…not him. Please spare my family._

"Lily! Go! I'll hold him off!" James yelled again as he sprinted into the hall where the front door had just been burst off its hinges with a huge _bang_. I suddenly remembered that both our wands were left in the dining room, on the other side of the house.

_James, I love you. _I thought desperately as a sprinted up the stairs, my baby boy in my arms. Harry was first priority. I had to make sure he was safe. I made it to the top of the stairs but I couldn't help but turn and take one more look into the hall. The door was lying on the floor with a tall figure in a long, black cloak with a hood standing on top of it.

James glanced back at me. There was no fear in his eyes; they were filled with the bravery and courage of a true Gryffindor. But there was love there too, the love he felt for me and for our son. My eyes filled with tears and before I could blink them away, James turned away from me, to face our intruder and enemy. The man we had been fighting and escaping since school. Lord Voldemort.

I realized I was frozen again on the top step. I forced my legs to run into the small room on my left. My body was drenched in fear and they moved stiffly. Just as I was entering Harry's nursery I heard a cold, high voice say, or it was more of a hiss, the two words I dreaded hearing.

"_Avada Kedavra"_

_No, no, please let James live. Please, he can't have died. _I begged in my head as the tears in my eyes spilled over, but the words were useless, I knew that. James had been fighting for me ever since we started at Hogwarts and he died fighting for me—not only for me, but also for our tiny boy.

I started barricading the door and cursing myself for not having my wand on me. We knew there was a chance of this happening. We knew he might decide to come for us. But not really for us, for Harry, though we had no idea why.

I turned and ran from the door to his cot, placing Harry gently there and then stood in front of it, with no idea what I was going to do. The window was too small and too high up and without my wand, there was no escape. I could hear Voldemort climbing the stairs. We were trapped.

I leaned down and whispered into Harry's ear, "I love you Harry, my darling. And daddy does too. You're going to be a great man and an amazing wizard someday." I gave him a kiss on the left of his forehead, the tears now pouring down my uncontrollably. Harry just looked back at me with his big green eyes and I envied him. He had no idea what was going on, he didn't know that his life, and his parent's lives were ending in a matter of seconds. He reached up to me with his tiny hand and touched the tears running down my cheeks with a tiny frown.

I kissed his finger tenderly as I heard Voldemort through aside the door and everything I barricaded behind it. I turned to face my fate.

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**What do you think? leave me some love and review!**


	2. Arrival

**Things I Own: A very slow laptop, 7 sad-looking Harry Potter books, Above!**

**Things I Wished I Owned But Don't: HARRY POTTER and the characters in it!**

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**1-Arrival**

**JAMES **

The first thing I realized was that I was lying down on something hard. I opened my eyes only to be greeted by thousands of twinkling stars in the night sky. I looked around and sat up slowly. I was sitting on a hill top, on a dirt path. Behind me, I saw a big shimmery thing that looked kind of like a moving curtain, or wobbly gates. The sparkles reminded me of a crystal.

_How I Merlin's name did I get here?_

Then it all came flooding back. Yelling in desperation to Lily; feeling the fear for her and my son; seeing the door burst open and the cloaked figure behind it; looking at my darling Lilyflower for the last time, trying to be strong as I watched her gorgeous green eyes fill with tears; literally feeling my heart tearing as I turned away from her and my son; then hissed words, the flash of green light.

Now I am on a hill. _Interesting._

Thinking about all those things, I could only come to one conclusion, I just didn't know if it was the right one.

I was dead, that I knew for certain. No one survives the _Avada Kedavra _ one in history has lived through it, and I'm pretty sure no one ever will. Especially if those words came out of Voldemort's mouth.

I sighed. Lily was always better at this sort of thing then I was. _Lily._ The thought of her made my eyes fill with tears, and my heart fell like it was breaking into a thousand pieces. So this was what it felt like to lose the person you loved most in the entire world-your soul mate, your one and only. As cliché as it sounds, I knew that Lily was my soul mate from the moment I saw her. And that was the first day of our first year at Hogwarts. We were only eleven, and I still thought girls were gross, but from the moment I saw her, I loved her.

I was sobbing about losing Lily, and I just got worse when I thought of Harry—the little boy, who already looked so much like me. But he had Lily's eyes and probably her personality, if he was lucky. The boy who I would never see grow up, never see off on the Hogwarts express for his first year, never watch his first quidditch match, or meet his friends.

I thought of my friends, Sirius, Remus and Peter. They would all be so sad to hear of my death but they would take care of Lily and Harry for me. Especially Sirius: my brother of sorts and the godfather of my child. I was here, and I was all alone.

Thinking of my friends and my family, I realised I had to be strong and figure out what to do from now. I took a deep breath, and then another one, to calm my self. When my sobs had eventually faded, I got to my feet, with no idea what to do. I looked down the hill and saw lots of houses with yellow lights streaming out several windows and many grey roads, illuminated by rows of street lamps.

As I was contemplating the sight before me, there was a small thud from behind me. I turned and saw a woman a woman lying face up behind me. Her bright red hair was spread all around her pretty, heart-shaped face and her eyes were closed, but they didn't need to be open for me to know what they looked like.

"LILY!" I yelled in surprise and fell back to my knees beside her. I put my hand to her cheek and repeated, quieter this time, "Lily."

She stirred and opened her eyes. When she turned her head and saw me I saw her emerald eyes widen, then fill with tears.

"James." She whispered, and her tears overflowed. I carefully sat her up and wrapped my arms around her, my own tears flowing again. She sobbed into my chest for a long time, no doubt thinking about everything that I had also thought about when I arrived.

"Lily," I said quietly when her sobs had quieted, "What are you doing here?"

She lifted her head to look me in the eyes properly. "Well I'm dead aren't I? And so are you, and now we're here....wherever here is."

I knew she would have figured it out faster then I did. "No, I mean, what are _you _doing here? You were supposed to run with Harry. I wanted you to live."

This reminder brought her tears back again. "I tried to run, but I didn't have my wand, and then he k-killed you and…I tried to protect Harry because I couldn't just let him take him away f-from me. I couldn't lose you both and-and…." She started sobbing again and I completely understood.

"I know." I muttered into her hair, kissing her head. "It's okay. We're together now, so you don't need to worry."

"I guess." She sighed, relaxing slightly but still crying. After a few minutes of me just holding her as she sobbed she muttered quietly, "I love you."

"I love you too, Lilyflower, more then you will ever, ever know." I could practically hear her rolling her eyes, but I couldn't see it because she was still drenching my shirt with her never-ending tears.

She eventually calmed down and then she looked up at me again. "What about Harry, James? Would Voldemort have…killed him?"

I frowned. I hadn't thought of that. "I don't know Lils, but if he did, wouldn't Harry be here now too?"


	3. Above

**2-Above**

"Lily."

"Yeah, James?"

"We should probably go down to the town and find somewhere to sleep or something. Its late and we can't stay up here forever." James said quietly, helping his wife up carefully.

"LILYYY! JAMES!"

They both turned to the sound of the yell, and saw a young woman with long, swinging blonde hair running towards them. James didn't know who it was at first, but Lily knew instantly.

"Nikki!" she squealed and she ran to meet her old school friend. James slowly ambled over to where they both stood, hugging tightly. When he got closer he could see that they were both sobbing, tears streaking down their faces.

"Lily…I missed you." Nikki murmured through her tears.

"Oh I know, Nik, I missed you too, so, so much. It's been so long."

Nikki laughed quietly, "It's only a bit over a year."

"So? It seemed like ages." They laughed at Lily's whiny tone.

"I can't believe you're here." Nikki said as they pulled away to smile at each other with a mixture of joy and sadness. Nikki looked at James. "Both of you."

"Yeah, I don't think it has really hit me yet." Lily said as Nikki went to hug James, still crying.

"Hey, Nikki." He murmured, trying to stop the tears pooling in his eyes as she continued to sob into his shoulder. "Long time, no see."

She laughed softly through her water works. "Indeed, James. I missed you."

Nikki and Lily had met in the first year of Hogwarts when they shared a boat with Mary on they way up to the castle, and the three had instantly become fast friends. Then, in seventh year when Mary started going out with Remus and Nikki got a crush on Sirius, the three of them started spending more time with the Marauders, and the girls got a lot closer to the guys.

Nikki, with her fun, loud, confident attitude had got on famously with James and especially Sirius. Her relationship with Sirius turned into something more then friendship while her and James became great friends.

"I missed you too, you were the only one Sirius would actually stop being stupid for. He went out of control." James chuckled, remembering.

She giggled, "Really?"

"Oh yeah." Lily said, coming up beside them, "Of course, it was probably because he was so devastated about your death. It broke his heart, Nik."

She sighed, "It broke mine too. I was up here, all alone. It was so different, not having everyone around."

"But now we are here!" James said, trying to lighten the mood. It worked to an extent. The girls laughed, but then Nikki tentatively spoke.

"How—I mean…what happened? Why are you guys here?"

"Voldemort." Lily and James replied simultaneously.

Nikki gasped, "He found you? How?"

"We don't know." James said, frowning. "We changed Peter to Secret Keeper a couple of nights ago. It was Sirius's idea—he thought that Pete would be a less likely target. But Wormtail would never betray us."

Lily nodded, but Nikki looked unsure. "Are…are you sure? I mean, Peter was always very quiet, and he did seem to be a bit out of it last time I saw you…"

But she trailed off because James was shaking his head before she was done. "No. He would never do that to us. He is a Marauder. Marauders are loyal, trustworthy friends who just happen to be geniuses at pranks and devastatingly handsome." He grinned cheekily at them.

They rolled their eyes. "Okay, whatever." Nikki said, then she glanced down at her watch. "Oh! Look at the time! I've got to meet…someone. I just saw your names on the screen before and I had to come and see you, but I've got to run."

"Okay—wait, what?" James said, but she had already hugged Lily and kissed James on the cheek and run off down the hill.

"I'll see you tomorrow!" she yelled over her shoulder.

When she had disappeared, James turned to his wife. "She loves a dramatic exit, doesn't she?"

Lily laughed, "She sure does."

"It was so good to see her. It has been a while."

"Yeah, it has." Lily smiled, "I really missed her."

James nodded silently, and neither of them spoke for a few minutes. Finally James said, "Lils, don't you think we should go? I mean, we can't live up here."

"You're probably right." Lily muttered and James started leading her down the hill, keeping an arm around her waist, "But where are we going to go?"

"I think we can help with that." A deep but not completely unfamiliar voice said.

"Dad! Mum!" James suddenly yelled when he recognized the two figures walking towards them. They looked a lot younger then when he had last seen them. They looked about 30.

"Hi James, Lily." Harold said as Judith let go of her husband's had to fly at the pair and hug them both tight.

"Oh, James! Look at you! You look even more handsome then last time a saw you! Oh I have my boy back!" Judith sobbed hugging James tightly yet awkwardly because he refused to let go of Lily. When Judith moved over to hug Lily, Harold went to greet his son.

"It's so good to see you again, Dad." James muttered, holding onto his father tightly. "I missed you."

"I know James, I missed you too." Harold replied blinking back tears, "It's been far too long."

"It's so nice to see you again Lily, dear." Judith said quietly to Lily, "Last time we saw you, you were still at Hogwarts. I must say, motherhood certainly suits you."

Lily's eyes filled with tears at Judith's compliment and at the reminder of Harry but she blinked them back, pushing away the pain of losing Harry. "Thank you so much Judith, it is so good to see you again." She hugged Mrs Potter again.

"Wait a minute," James said, having evidently heard his mothers comment. "How did you know about Harry? We haven't seen you for almost 5 years."

"People die everyday James", Harold replied, smiling slightly, "people tell us things all the time. Remember Uncle Basil? He was at your wedding and when he passed, he told us you too got married. Not that we were surprised. You had been wanting to marry Lily since you first saw her, and we knew you would. We were so happy for you. And then when you visited our grave last year. We heard you."

"You can actually hear us talk to you?" Lily asked, astounded.

"Oh, yes dear. And it rather makes our day, or our month." Judith amended as the group started walking down the hill. "We have a little speaker in the kitchen, you see. And when you and James visited our grave last September, your voices come through the speaker. We heard all about Harry, and how you got married. We were so happy!"

"You bet." Harold agreed looking at James, "Your mother didn't stop crying the entire day."

Everyone except Judith laughed. "Of course I didn't!" she said indignantly, "I was just so happy! My son had finally married the girl he had loved from the moment he saw her. And then they had a little boy! I still can't get over the fact that I'm a grandmother! And you!" She rounding on her husband, "Even you cried when they said they had named him after you."

"Only a little." Harold admitted reluctantly.

"Wow, so you can hear us speaking to your graves. How did you know we…arrived tonight?" James asked.

"Well, that's the other thing," Judith said, "Every house in Above has a—"

"I'm sorry, every house _where?_" James blurted.

"Don't interrupt when I'm talking James," his mother scolded, "it's very rude. I taught you better then that."

James muttered "Sorry," quietly and Lily giggled.

"As I was saying, every house in Above—which is where you are now—has a small screen in their living room that shows the names of people who have just arrived to the people who knew them. The names come up in different colours according to how they die. So when your names came up in purple, we knew instantly that you both had been murdered. White means old age, green means sickness, blue means accident and red means you are going Below."

"And Below is…" Lily prompted.

"Below is…hell basically." Harold verified, "And Above is heaven. When you die, some part of you, your subconscious maybe, decides what age you want to be in Above. You don't age here so your mind picks an age that you were happiest with your life or your image, and you stay that way forever. Unless you died when you were below seventeen because that is not adult age. Partners usually end up being roughly the same age. And seeing as you two died so young, you are probably same age here as you were when you died. You turn up on the top of that hill," he pointed behind them, "and those glittery gates are called the Diamond Gates. That's where everyone arrives from."

"Oh, Harold, don't forget to tell them about the muggles." Mrs Potter said.

"I was just getting to that, dear." Her husband chuckled at his wife's pushiness. He looked at Lily specifically as he spoke. "This part of Above is only for witches and wizards, people with magical blood. But, over the other side of The Diamond Gates, is the muggle Above. Now, there is a magical barrier, that makes our side invisible to them, but we can see over there just fine. If you are blood related to a muggle, you are able to pass through the barrier, as are they and speak to them as if you were in the same place."

"Why aren't they just here with us?" James asked, "It's stupid to have two different sides! It sounds like something the maniacal purebloods would think of, separating us!"

"There are a lot of pureblood people here, James, who don't like muggles as much as some other people would." His mother calmly explained, smiling at his exclamation, "It doesn't make them automatically bad people. Above has to cater to everybody. Then of course we still have to remain inconspicuous, even up here."

James sighed and nodded. Not seeing Lily smile at him proudly. She loved him for that. The fact was that he was such a descent and caring person, even though she had only seen the arrogant, annoying side of him all through school, until seventh year. She sometimes wondered how she hadn't seen that in six years of knowing him.

James hated it when wizards treated muggles like dirt. Even though he came from a pureblood family, he had nothing against muggles and muggleborns. He thought they were incredibly smart and creative people. How they survived without magic, he will never know. Hell, he had married a muggleborn, and he hated it when she was called Mudblood. It was the most insulting thing if you asked him, and he did everything he could to stop it.

Harold and Judith continued to tell Lily and James all about Above all the way back to their house and by the time they arrived, everybody was exhausted. Lily and James, who would stay with the Potters until they got their own place, went straight to bed after an extremely long day.

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**REVIEWS=HAPPY GINNYJAFFA=FASTER UPDATES!!**


	4. You Learn Something New Everyday

**A/N: Okay, so I'M SO SORRY i forgot to put this chapter in!! Somehow i forgot about it entirely so if it didn't really run as smoothly as you thought then i'm so sorry! It's not hugely important but it does have a little missing info so here it is...**

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**3-You Learn Something New Everyday**

**JAMES **

Above is basically the same as earth I have discovered. Only Lily and I had to do things we haven't done since we were kids all over again because it's like starting life in another world. Only you are 21 not 0.

So during our first few weeks here in Above, Lilyflower and I went and got new wands. (We both basically got the same wands as we had before.) We had to get new clothes and essentials like toothbrushes and soap etc. We learnt a lot of things about Above as well. Lily, upon discovering she could visit her parents, immediately planned a whole day that we could spend with them. Her almost obsessive organisational skills are something I hate and love about her.

After you have spent 150 years in Above, you go back to Earth as a baby (I have no idea how) and it all starts again. Children that are under 3 don't come here; they just start again on earth. So that would explain why Harry didn't arrive.

I still feel incredibly sad about Harry and how I will never see him again. Lily cried practically the entire first three days we were here and I completely understood how she felt, I was absolutely devastated that I would never see our son, but I had to put on a brave face for Lily. We explained to mum and dad and Nikki about the night we died and everything we knew. They were incredibly supportive, although Mum and Nikki cried with Lily a lot those days.

For the first week we sort of kept to ourselves. Then we decided that we should go out and get our own place, and get on with our lives. We got a house that was just around the corner from Mum and Dad's, and we discovered that there is a library at the end of our street to Lily's absolute delight.

After a few days here, getting used to things, Lily decided she wanted to put her plan into action and go and see her parents. She hadn't seen them since they were hunted down and killed by Voldemort's followers, just like practically everyone we knew, two years ago. They hadn't been around to see us get married or anything, and Lily desperately wanted to see them again. She was excited to see them again, but also very scared about what they would say. But she needn't have worried…

*****

Lily took in another deep gulp of air as she stood at the entrance to the muggle Above. It was about her tenth deep breath, and I was getting worried. I didn't know someone as small as her could take in that much air.

"Lils, calm down." I said, squeezing her hand, "It's going to be great to see them again."

"I know," she said, "I can't wait to see them, I just don't know what they will say to us both being here, you know?"

"Yeah, but they love you. They're your parents. What do you expect them to do? Threaten to lock you in your room if you don't go back down to Earth immediately?"

She laughed shakily. "I wouldn't put Mum past it."

I chuckled instead of agreeing with her. Lily's mum Lenore was a great woman; so happy and full of life. But she wanted what was best for her daughters and sometimes she got very pushy. She loved me though, to my absolute relief, and she had told me specifically the day I had officially met her as Lily's boyfriend, _"I think you are a great guy, James. You seem to be able to handle yourself and I can definitely tell that you and Lily are going to be very happy together. But, if you hurt my baby girl, in anyway, I will hunt you down."_

I had gulped at that one. She could get very…well, scary. Lily's dad Jake was the peace maker in the family, and the calm one. He was very proper and business-like but he liked me as well, so I knew I didn't really have to worry about him.

"How does this thing work, anyway?" Lily asked, breaking into my thoughts.

"Uh, mum said that it sensed who you were and alerted your parents. I don't know how long—"

There was a rather loud yell then. "LILY!"

We both looked towards a man and a woman, running towards us, the woman's arms already outstretched, even though they were a good hundred metres away. I recognised them immediately. Lenore had pale blond hair that was cut into a short bob, and Jake was tall, with brown hair and green eyes just like Lily's. I remembered seeing a picture of them at the beginning of seventh year, just when Lily and I were starting to be friends, and asking Lily where she got the colour of her hair from.

"My dad's mum had hair like mine when she was young." Lily had laughed, "Red hair usually skips a generation." It had fascinated me that her parents didn't have the vivid hair that she did, but Lily didn't think it was as amazing as I did and tired of the conversation quickly.

Anyway, so Lily's parents got to her then and were hugging her fiercely. They were all crying—Evans' are very emotional people—and saying how much they loved and missed each other.

"Mum, Dad," Lily said when they had let her go after several minutes, "You remember James.

They smiled at me, and Lenore gave me a hug. "James, it is so wonderful to see you again."

"You too, Lenore." I said, "You look very well."

She laughed as Jake shook my hand, "Oh yes, well I am very happy. Especially having my little girl back."

"Me too," Jake said, "You taking care of her, James?"

"I try, sir." I smiled, "But I suppose if I was taking better care of her she wouldn't be here."

He shook his head, but looked happy with my answer, "It doesn't matter that you are both here. As long as you are happy, and that you are together."

"How are you here?" Lenore asked tentatively.

"Mum, remember me telling you about Voldemort?" Lily asked hesitantly, "Well, he found us, and had some reason to kill us both."

Her parents looked at us in shock, eyes wide. "Why?" Mrs Evans breathed.

"We don't really know." I shrugged, "I think it might have had something to do with Harry."

"And who's Harry?" Jake asked.

Lily and I looked at each other in surprise. "You don't know about Harry?" Lily said curiously.

Her parents shook their heads, and I couldn't help but smile happily. It was the same smile I got on my face when ever I told people I was a father.

"Well, you know that we are married, right?"

"Of course, darling." Lenore said, smiling happily, "You were engaged last time we saw you. And we are so glad you did get married!"

"Me too." I grinned, and they all laughed.

"About a year later, I had a little boy. Harry James Potter." She beamed and I knew I was smiling like that too.

They stared at us before Lenore burst into tears again. "You had a baby! Oh, a little boy. Harry, what a lovely name." She hugged us both again.

"We named him after my father." I said.

"That's so lovely! I'm so happy for you both!" She cried, then she gasped loudly, "I'm a grandmother! Oh my goodness, I am a grandmother! And you're a grandfather!" she pointed to her husband, who laughed, his green eyes glowing.

"I know, dear. Congratulations." He smiled, "That really is great news."

"And was everything alright? The pregnancy? You weren't too sick were you, honey?" Lenore asked, now pestering over Lily, looking at her stomach intently, "Did the birth go okay?"

"Yes, Mum." Lily laughed, pushing her mother's hands away from her flat stomach, "Everything went perfectly fine."

"This is simply wonderful! Wait until I tell everyone!" Lenore squealed then she stopped, "Wait! Is he here? Did this Voldemort person get him too?"

Lily and I frowned at that, we hadn't yet figured it out. "We don't know." I said, "I assume he did, but babies don't come here. He was only one when we died."

"Yeah, I think James is right. No on has ever survived the killing curse, and I'm sure a one year old wouldn't be the exception." Lily sniffed quietly, "I just won't ever get to see my little boy again."

I wrapped my arm around her, knowing just how she felt.

There was a long pause before Jake laughed abruptly, obviously trying to relieve the sadness settling over the silence. "And how is Sirius? Hope he is not causing too much havoc."

"Oh, and Mary and Nikki! Are she and Sirius still together?" Lenore asked.

I laughed, "Sirius is fine. Well at least I hope he is. I am slightly worried that he hasn't gone too far, seeing as we are not there to stop him."

They laughed. Lenore and Jake had met Sirius in the summer holidays after we had finished at Hogwarts. He had popped in when I was visiting Lily and they had immediately fallen for his charm. He had that affect on people. He was too handsome and funny and smooth for his own good. I was slightly worried they liked him more then me.

"What about Nikki and Mary? How are they?" Lenore pressed.

Lily and I looked at each other. "Well, about 2 months after you both died, Nikki was also attacked by Death Eaters." Lily said grimly.

They gasped, and I nodded, "It was a very hard time for all of us, but it was especially difficult for Sirius. You know how much he loved her. In all the time I had known him, I had never seen him like that. He was devastated to put it lightly. He wasn't himself for a good 3 months."

The Evans' looked at us sadly. They had seen how much Sirius and Nikki cared about each other, it was clear to anyone they met how perfect they were for each other. It was silent until I said, "But now we have been reunited with Nikki, and she seems happy. It is good to see her again."

Lily and her parents smiled, "And how's Mary?" Mrs Evans quizzed, and we laughed at her pressuring tone.

For the rest of the afternoon, Lenore and Jake, but mostly Lenore, asked us to tell them everything we remembered about the wedding and our friends and Harry. When we both got home, we were exhausted, but Lily was incredibly happy to have her parents back in her life.

*****

Moving on…We are really happy here and are starting to get used to the life. Nikki is a regular visitor, and we love having her around. Everyone was so devastated when she was killed by Death Eaters just over a year after we had graduated, and it has been good to catch up with her again. She really is a great girl and the life of the party, just like Sirius. They were the perfect couple, and they really loved each other. Thinking of Sirius made me very sad, of course as well as Remus and Pete, because we never spent more then a month apart at school, even in the holidays, and there is a big hole in my life that used to be theirs.

We have dinner with my parents about once a week and it is so great to see them again. I remember when they were killed, (by Death Eaters) very distinctly. It was about half way through our last year at Hogwarts and Lily and I had only just got together. I was so happy at the time, school was going well, we were winning in Quidditch, but I was especially happy to finally be able to call Lily my girlfriend, and then I found out about their deaths and I was devastated. Being an only child, I was incredibly close to my parents, but I knew that being Aurors, there was a chance that they would not live to see me grow up. I was just lucky that I had Lily there to support me, I wouldn't have gotten through it without her and the experience just brought us closer together.

It can be quite lonely here though, when it's just the two of us. It hasn't been just the two of us for a while. And I know I have Lily, but I had gotten so used to having to care for Harry every minute of the day and having all my friends over all the time on earth, that having just the two of us in Above is very weird. Especially knowing I won't see my friends for a very long time.

About 3 weeks after we arrived I was out for a walk and I ran into a small family. They were obviously coming back from The Diamond Gates because they all looked like they and been crying but most of them looked happy to have their family member back. But one of them looked so sad. His name was Bryce, I later found out.

As I was walking towards them, the sad looking man (Bryce) looked at me and kind of yelped. Then he ran up to me and grabbed onto my arm. I was already kind of freaked out by the arm grabbing, so when he said "You're James Potter!" I was thinking _STALKER! Get away from me!_

But then he said something that shocked me so much all I could do was stare at him like an idiot. He said, "I know what you and your wife did for your son! So brave! And now he lives! Your boy lives! The only person to survive the killing curse and escape Lord Voldemort. And a baby!"

I stared at him for about 3 minutes saying nothing while he grinned at me. Then I finally found my voice. "Harry's alive?"

"Yes! Alive and well. And Voldemort has disappeared. He was defeated by your infant son!"

"H-how do you know all this?"

"He is famous! Incredibly so. The entire Wizarding World knows of you sacrifice and of your Harry. There is not a person with a magical bone in their body that does not know Harry's name." The man said.

My mind seemed to be working very slowly and it took me a long time to absorb that Harry was alive. Then I remembered Lily and realised she should hear about it from this man and not second-hand from me. I invited him over so that he could explain everything in detail to her.

Then, I ran home as fast as I could and told Lily, who literally almost fainted at the news. I had to catch her before she fell and cracked her head on the coffee table. Then she sort of sat staring at the wall until Bryce came over and told us everything he knew. How Voldemort tried to kill him using the killing curse and it somehow rebounded, leaving Harry alive and perfectly fine apart from the lightning shaped scar on the right of his forehead. How Voldemort hasn't been seen since. And how Harry has now become a Wizarding World legend.

Lily was crying from the moment Bryce told us he survived and I really struggled to keep my own tears in. We also learnt that they had erected a statue of the three of us as a tribute to the sacrifice Lily and I gave in Godrics Hollow where we used to live. This only made Lily cry more and I felt extremely honoured that they would put a statue up for us. We went to bed extremely happy with this news that our son was alive but sad that he would never really know what it felt like to have his parents there.

But there were still so many questions that needed to be answered. And over the years pieces fell into place. Not that it was all good news. We found out that Harry was living with muggle relatives. We knew that could only mean Lily's sister Petunia, her awful whale of a husband and their one terrible offspring.

I was not happy to hear about that, let me tell you. Lily wasn't too keen about it either, but for once she was not the one raging around. She just sat quietly on the couch, keeping her anger and worry for Harry inside as she watched me march around the room yelling about the dreadful Dursleys at the top of my lungs.

I had only met them three times and I was happy to leave it at that. The first time was during the summer after we had finished school and I came to visit my Lilyflower at her house. Her parents loved me and all was going well, until her sister came round with her fiancé, who looks more like a gigantic talking lump then human. I didn't like Petunia from what I'd heard about her from Lily at school and Vernon was no better, so proud and arrogant. And, to add to my dislike, he treated Lily like she was a slave, calling her 'girl' and both of us 'freak', obviously very happy to pick up Petunia's habit. I was very tempted to inflate him like a balloon and let him float away, or even better, expand him until he popped, but I knew that would not impress Lily's parents so I regretfully kept my wand safely in my pocket despite my hand twitching with the temptation.

Then, when they got married, Lily was invited to the wedding, but was not as a bridesmaid which I thought she should be, seeing as her _sister _was the bride, but no. She took me as her date and Mrs Stick and Mr Lump didn't like that at all, but they had to put on a smile because it was their wedding day. They didn't even pretend to be happy when Sirius crashed the party though (quite literally).

They took their chance on Lily and my wedding day (the happiest day of my life), with both of them coming. I'm sure they had some kind of pathetic muggle revenge planned but they were forced to leave early. Not that I really blame them. My fellow Marauders had a few things planned that I didn't know about but I didn't really mind—Marauders will be Marauders.

Sirius had charmed Vernon's piece of cake to dodge his fork when he was trying to eat it and in the end, the cake got so sick of it and it jumped onto Vernon's face. Remus made Petunia's champagne glass bounce on her head for the whole reception, and Peter transformed into his rat animagus and ran up her skirt. He then proceeded to get extremely drunk to 'wash away the awful images'. Personally I thought it was hilarious and was very proud of them. Lily scolded them for causing havoc on her wedding day, but she spent most of the night trying to hide her amused smile, and I knew that she found it funny as well.

So clearly, I wasn't happy about that revelation because I knew that they would treat Harry like scum. Finding out Harry was living with them posed another question, why wasn't Harry living with Sirius? He was the godfather after all.

But when we asked the lady who told us Harry was living with the Dursleys about Sirius Black, she paled and muttered quietly, "You don't want to know about that." Which worried me quite a bit: Sirius wasn't exactly the most rational person I knew so I just hoped he hadn't got himself thrown into Azkaban or something for blowing Dursley up, not that I would have really cared.

Years later we discovered from a very nice man that Harry had started school at Hogwarts and was sorted into Gryffindor. That really came as no surprise though because he was my son after all. The other thing we learnt was that he got on the Quidditch team! The first first year to get on the house Quidditch team in over a century! And he was the Seeker! I swelled with so much pride when I found out about that that I thought I might explode. I was also very sad that I never saw my son's first game. I just hoped he realised how much Lily and I missed him.

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**A/N: There, hopefully that makes more sense! It will flow better with the next chapter anyway! You can yell at me through the review button! :P**


	5. Earthly Visit

**4- Earthly Visit**

**JAMES**

Enough about the past, back to the present! Although we have now been here for about 14 years, the weeks and months blurring together as life slowly fell into a routine.

I was lying on the couch, reading _Quidditch Weekly _(they still have Quidditch magazines! It's the only way I can follow the sport now) and my darling Lilyflower was in the kitchen making tea when she called over to me.

"James!" She walked into the room holding the two tea cups. "Get your head out of that stupid magaz—" She stopped mid sentence, her eyes rolling into the back of her head and she collapsed on the floor, the cups falling out of her hand and spilling on the carpet around her.

"Lily?" I said, shocked and confused. I was just rising from my seat to go over to her when there was an incredibly bright flash of white light and the next thing I knew, I was standing in an unfamiliar place. My mind seemed to work amazingly fast, and I was able to absorb four things at once.

The first thing I registered was that somehow I was back on earth.

The second thing was that Lily was standing next to me but she was a silvery-blue. Not solid, but more then a ghost. Looking down at myself I realised that I was the same.

The third thing was that I recognized the place, though I had never been there before. I knew the shapes of the stones sticking out of the ground and too quiet, slightly eerie, slightly sad feel in the air. We were in a grave yard.

The fourth and infinitely most important thing I saw was that Harry, my son, was standing right next to me.

All those four things my mind registered within one second, but looking at Harry's face I realised I could have looked at him forever and it would never make up for all the time we lost. He was obviously a lot bigger then last time I saw him, being fourteen and all, and he was looking rather thin. His hair was a lot longer and it stuck up at the back, just like mine. I also noticed his scar. The perfect lightning shaped, pink scar on the right of his forehead was odd and unfamiliar to me, but I knew that that scar was what people recognized him with. His face looked like mine, though it was smeared with sweat and dirt, and there was a small cut on his face. He even had similar glasses to mine on his nose but they were cracked and dirty. He looked haggard and tired, as if he had been through too much in the last few hours.

But it was his eyes that stood out to me. Probably because they were exactly the same as Lily's and she has the most gorgeous eyes I have ever seen. I absorbed all of this so fast, but looking again, I noticed that they were narrowed in concentration and locked on something I hadn't cared to look at. But when I did, I couldn't look away.

Lord Voldemort, standing, living and fighting my son. His red eyes flashed with anger at not having finished Harry sooner. Their wands were connected by a thin beam of white and in the middle was a golden bead of light. Coming out of the bead, was a web-like cover that was sheltering us all. Behind Voldemort, were his followers. His Death Eaters. Some even had their masks off and their hoods down so I could really see their faces. I recognised Goyle, Crabbe, Macnair, Lucius Malfoy (who I had always hated, and the feeling was mutual) and Bellatrix Lestrange. She was Sirius's cousin and they had always hated each other. I also spotted someone standing at the back, behind the rest. He had his hood up so I could not clearly see his face, but I noticed that he was short and chubby and reminded me hugely of my old buddy Wormtail. But it couldn't be Peter because he would never be a Death Eater.

Turning my attention back to Harry, who was now looking at me in wonder, I said quietly, so that Voldemort could not hear, "When the connection is broken we can linger for a moment, but only a moment…it will give you some time. Do you understand, Harry?"

He nodded, then another, unfamiliar voice said, "Harry, take my body back will you? Take my body back to my father." I looked up in time to see a young man nodding to Harry.

"Sweetheart, you're ready." Lily said, "Let go…Let go!"

Harry broke the connection and sprinted away, towards something I had no time to see. I swooped, I guess you could call it, with Lily and the others that were there, toward Voldemort, who yelled and tried to bat us away with his hand. Then I couldn't really see anything anymore, everything was turning white, and before I knew it, I was back in my living room.

Blinking, I looked at Lily whose shocked expression I'm sure was a mirror image of mine. We stared at each other for a long moment, then she started sobbing uncontrollably. I hurried to her side, avoiding the tea that was now almost soaked into the carpet, and wrapped my arms around her, feeling more shocked then anything else, while she sobbed into my chest.

"Oh James," she muttered, in between sobs, "That was our boy, that was Harry. Fighting Voldemort. He's only fourteen! He shouldn't be facing what we did when we had finished school. I just hope he's okay…"

"I know Lily," I muttered, "I'm scared for him too. But he got away, I know he did. He escaped Voldemort like we did when we were alive. He'll be alright. Don't worry now."

I continued to try to calm her and rock her until she quietened. I had to admit I was beginning to feel a lot better knowing that I have at least one of the people I love safe in my arms.

"James," Lily murmured after her sobs had faded, "Is that what we died for? We sacrificed our lives to protect our son, only for him to have to face Voldemort alone, without our support or help. What if—"

"No, no, no, of course not Lilyflower." I disagreed quickly "We died to save him thirteen years ago. We are the reason he was even alive today." I said, trying to sound like I was confident in what I was saying and that I knew what I was talking about. "Our sacrifice was definitely for the better. It will work out somehow." But even as I said the words I frowned, not exactly knowing if this will work out.

I could only hope.

* * *

Over the next three days, Lily and I thought about our experience on earth a lot. Lily went down to the library and read about the connection between Voldemort's wand and Harry's. She discovered that it can happen and it has happened before, but it is incredibly rare. Apparently, only two really talented and powerful wizards can accomplish it. That made me feel a little better. If Harry was a powerful and talented wizard now, at fourteen, I could only imagine what he would be like when he was older. I knew he could beat Voldemort. That thought alone made me feel more confident.

We tried not to think about it as much as possible, so we distracted ourselves with useless and boring activities. For example, my Lilyflower dragged me along for grocery shopping. I hate shopping, but Lily dragged me along so there I was sitting on a wooden bench on the far wall of the shop waiting for Lily to choose what brand of tissues to get, like it was a really hard decision.

My mind was just starting to wander, when I heard a woman's voice from the isle next to me. "Cedric!" she scolded, "I know you just arrived a few days ago but stop moping at the floor! It's not going to be any help to you! Talk to someone about what happened last night for Merlin's sake!" she was still muttering when she walked out of the isle and I could get a good look at the boy following her. He was tall and well-built with blondish hair and he looked kind of familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on it. The expression on his face was sad. He was wallowing.

I watched as he went up to the woman and muttered something quietly. She sighed and nodded and he began to walk over to the bench I was sitting on. For one moment I thought he was coming over to talk to me but then I realised that he had barely looked up from the floor the entire time so he couldn't have seen me.

He sat down heavily at the other end of the bench and continued to stare at the blue and white tiles on the floor. I watched him curiously for a minute. _Poor guy,_ I thought, _he only arrived a couple of days ago. Maybe I should talk to him. _ I thought about it for another minute before I moved slightly closer to him and said, "Y'know, dwelling on it isn't going to help. Trust me, I would know."

He looked up, startled then said, "I wasn't dwell…you're James Potter."

By now I was completely used to random people recognising me that I simply said, "Yes I am." I hesitated, then added, "You know, you should talk to someone about it. It does help."

"I suppose I should," he sighed, then looked at me hopefully, "could I talk to you about it?" Before I could react he added hastily, "Only because it involves you. Well, it involves your son actually."

"You knew Harry?" I asked, my interest immediately captured, he nodded then I added "And of course you can talk to me. Can you come over tonight? My wife and I always love to hear more about Harry." Then I remembered my manners, "Sorry, what was your name?"

"Oh it's Cedric." He answered, "Cedric Diggory."

_That's why he looked familiar. _"You're a Diggory!" I exclaimed, surprised. "Amos's son?" I guessed.

He nodded, looking sad again. Oops, he didn't need a reminder of family. I tried to distract him, "So come round about 6ish and—"

"James, we can go now, I'm done—oh, hello there!" Lily said, spotting Cedric.

Being the man I was, I stood and introduced them, hoping Lily didn't do what I did and mention—

"Diggory? Amos's son?" Lily asked. Too late.

"Yes" Cedric answered as he stood, sadness still etched onto his features, which Lily seemed to notice. Her green eyes widened and she bit her lip in regret. Again, I stepped in.

"Lily, can Cedric come over tonight?" I asked. When she looked hesitant (she hated entertaining) I quickly added, "It has something to do with Harry."

"Of course." She said immediately, and I smothered my amused smile. Bingo! One mention of Harry, and Lily would do anything.

Cedric left, agreeing to see us at 6. And Lily and I went home eagerly awaiting Cedric's story. But I definitely would not have been that excited if I knew that, although it involved Harry, Cedric's story was not a happy one.

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**A/N: Sorry its a bit short! the next chapter is longer, I promise!! Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who has been reviewing! The readers of the original story and the new ones! I really appreciate it! I do like the next chapter. Maybe its just because it's Cedric and I pictured Rob Pattinson the entire time I was writing it. But really, can you blame me? ;) **


	6. Cedric's Story

**Here is the longer chapter i promised! Thank you all so much for the amazing reviews!! It should be no different for this chapter, don't you think?**

**Me GinnyJaffa, not JK Rowling**

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**5- Cedric's Story**

**LILY **

I was incredibly excited and anxious to hear about what Cedric knew of Harry. He looked about 17 so I assumed he went to Hogwarts with him. I quickly did the math and realised that Harry would only be in his fourth year this year and seventh years and fourth years didn't really interact. I was contemplating this when the door bell rang. I moved to answer it, but James stopped me.

"I'll get it," he muttered, "We shouldn't overwhelm him."

I reluctantly agreed and waited, agitated, in the lounge room for the men to come in and sit down. James sat next to me and Cedric took a seat across from us and looked down at his hands before he said anything.

"Before I get into the story, I'm going to have to warn you that this is not necessarily a happy story, so forgive me now. Also, the story sort of ends unfinished because I…well I didn't make it to see the end." Cedric looked at us, with a sad sort of look and I felt pity for this boy whose life was cut so short.

He looked at his hands again and began his story. "I didn't know Harry very well, so I can't tell you too much about him and his life at Hogwarts. I know that he has two best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger—"

"Oh, James!" I interrupted without thinking, "You remember Molly and Arthur! They were in the Ord–" I stopped, remembering that Cedric didn't know about the Order of the Pheonix. "Well, we knew them. Ron must be their son. But I've never heard of the name Granger…" I trailed off, thinking.

"Yes I remember them Lily, but we should let Cedric tell us the story first." James said quietly with a small smile.

"Oh, sorry Cedric! Do continue, I won't interrupt again." I apologized.

"It's okay." Cedric assured me, "So anyway, Ron and Hermione are his best friends they are always together. I don't really know much about them, all I know is that Ron has lots of brothers, who are older then him and one younger sister. Hermione is a muggleborn so that would be why you've never heard of her family, Lily." Cedric smiled slightly. "Harry is rather popular at school, because he is so famous, but I don't think he really likes the attention, I think he would really tries to avoid that sort of thing." Cedric grimaced slightly as he said this as if contradicting the statement.

I felt incredibly sad for Harry, he didn't want all this fame, and it seems like he got my personality, which comes with an aversion to attention, but it's clearly unavoidable. _It's lucky_, I mused, _that he didn't get James's personality. He would have thrived on all that attention and his head would be so big it wouldn't be able to fit in the castle._

Cedric continued his tale, interrupting my reverie. "That's all I really know about Harry and his friends, seeing as he is three years younger then me, we didn't really talk much until the tournament."

There was a moment of confused silence. "What tournament?" James asked.

Cedric didn't seem to be particularly happy to get into this part of the story. "This year was the year for Hogwarts to host the wizarding tournament in which Hogwarts, Durmstrang, and Beauxbatons competed."

I gasped as something I had read in school came back to me, and I murmured at the same time Cedric did, "The Tri-Wizard Tournament."

"Um, I'm sorry, should I know what that is?" James said, clearly feeling left out.

"Don't worry if you've never heard of it James," I smiled slightly at his limited Hogwarts knowledge. "Our years at school didn't fall at the time. The Tri-Wizard Tournament is held every 50 years and Hogwarts, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang all put one contestant from their school forward to compete. It has obviously been 50 years so Hogwarts held it this year."

"That's right," Cedric agreed, "When Dumbledore announced this at the beginning of the year, every one was really excited. Eternal glory, is what you would get if you won. I had always been the adventurous type so naturally I put my name into the Goblet of Fire—it's what chooses the champions—" Cedric added because James was looking confused again.

"I will always remember the night that the names of the contestants were drawn out. Fleur Delacour was the Beauxbatons champion that was picked and Viktor Krum was chosen for Durmstrang. I was picked for Hogwarts." He paused.

I couldn't help saying, "Is that how you…?"

He ignored my question, "But this year was different, three champions were not picked…there were four." He took a deep breath, "I don't really know what happened. My name was drawn, and so I went down to the classroom were the champions were meeting, feeling nervous and excited to be competing for eternal glory. I expected the teachers to come in right after me. They didn't. Fleur, Viktor and I were just getting worried…when Harry came stumbling in, looking absolutely shocked and confused. His name had been picked out of the Goblet."

"_What?"_ James and I yelled at the same time.

"I don't know how it happened, you couldn't put your name in the Goblet unless your were over 17. And I knew, by looking at Harry's face that he hadn't put his name in. He didn't want eternal glory, he already got enough attention as it was. But people were angry, they couldn't understand how a 14 year old got his name into the Goblet, because Dumbledore had drawn an age line around it himself. The teachers came in yelling and demanding Harry to tell them if he put his name in. He denied it every time. After a lot of deliberation, it was decided. The rules were concrete. Because Harry's name had been drawn out, no matter if he put it in there himself or not, he had to compete. Harry was officially a Tri-Wizard Champion."

* * *

"_WHAT?"_ James yelled again, so loud that I had to cover my ears. I didn't say anything, but the room went blurry from the moisture forming in my eyes. _He didn't want this. _I thought, _it's so dangerous, he could be killed. Who would put his name in?_

"This is UNBELIEVABLE!" James was shouting, "At FOURTEEN? No way! That's not fair! He didn't want it! Dumbledore should have stopped it! Those rat bag—" my tears had bubbled over and James stopped shouting abruptly when he noticed. He sat back down next to me and put his arm around me, pulling me closer.

"I'm sorry," Cedric said quietly, "I know it's not fair, but the rules are final. If the name is drawn, they have to compete. Dumbledore had no choice."

James was shaking his head slowly with anger, but my tears were slowing. I could see the room clearly again. I looked at Cedric. "Keep telling the story." I said, "Even if it's not happy, I want to know. And you should get it off your chest."

He nodded solemnly and spoke, "So Harry was officially competing. It was the first time in history two students from the same school were competing against each other. But we had no choice. We had no idea what the first task was going to be and I was worried that I would not be prepared. About two days before the task, Harry came rushing up to me. 'Dragons' he said, 'that's the first task'. He had somehow found out what it would be and had warned me so I would know what to do. I really appreciated that. He's a good guy." Cedric added sincerely and I felt a swelling of pride.

"The task itself wasn't too bad." Cedric continued, "We were each given a dragon, and we had to collect the golden egg that was place under the dragons guard. We were told the egg contained a clue for the second task. I managed to get the egg and I was pretty proud of myself, but Harry did it better." He smiled at James, "I've heard you were Quidditch Captain in your time at Hogwarts and I reckon Harry will be too. He is amazing on a broom." James grinned proudly and I refrained from rolling my eyes because Harry could be hopeless at school and fail all his subjects, but as long as he could play Quidditch, James would be happy.

"That's how he got the egg." Cedric went on, "He summoned his broom and flew around the stadium, trying to avoid the dragon and get the egg." Cedric laughed, "I didn't see it, but apparently it was great to watch, the dragon managed to break away from the chain that kept it in the stadium and chased after Harry."

"They both flew off, and they were gone for ages, apparently. Then Harry flew back without the dragon and collected the egg. He had somehow managed to lose the dragon so he could easily pick up the egg." Cedric laughed again and this time James joined in loudly. I could see it in his face, his hazel eye glowing with happiness. He was so proud that Harry had inherited his skills on a broomstick. It was something that James was very passionate about and it made him so happy to discover that Harry was just as passionate and talented as his father.

"Sounds like he could really give you a run for you money, dear." I said with a smile, knowing it would provoke him.

"No way!" James protested loudly, "He may be a chip off the old block, but he still has many more years of experience to even come close to competing with me."

I laughed and rolled my eyes at my husband's maturity.

Cedric was smiling at us still. "He was even better in the second task." He said, "The golden egg that was meant to be a clue, would make this horrible, high screeching noise when you opened it. But I discovered that if you opened it underwater, it would sing this song about mermaids. It said that we had an hour to recover what was taken from us in the black lake. I knew that I owed Harry a favour, and I knew he was having trouble with his egg. So I told him to open it underwater, I figured I should repay him for telling me about the dragons."

"That was very nice of you," I said. James nodded in agreement.

Cedric chuckled, "Thanks. Anyway the second task began and we dove into the lake, each of us having figured out a way to breath underwater for an our. Harry ate some gillyweed." Cedric added for my benefit because he could see I was about to interrupt. "We swam and discovered that we had to collect one of our friends who had been tied underwater. Oh don't worry, they were fine!" he hastily said, seeing our horrified faces, "They were charmed so they could breath, they were just sort of asleep." We both relaxed, "Anyway, I got my person at the same time as Harry was collecting Ron, but he was hesitating because Hermione was there too. She was dating Viktor Krum, so she was there for him to collect, but he hadn't arrived yet. I had to remind Harry that we only had an hour. I got to the surface first and waited for him to arrive, but he didn't come up. I discovered that Fleur had been forced to back out because she was attacked by water gremlins so her sister, who she was meant to collect was still down there.

"Viktor came up then with Hermione, and Harry only had about 5 minutes left to come up. We waited but he didn't come up. About 10 seconds before the end of the hour, Ron _and _Gabrielle—Fleur's sister—emerged, but without Harry. He seemed to have sent them up with out him. Then, the moment the clock struck an hour, Harry came flying out of the water and landed on the deck." I let out the breath I had been holding, I was very worried for Harry, and from the plain relief on James's face as well, I could see I was not the only one.

"So then what happened?" James asked, "If Harry saved not only Ron, but also Fleur's sister as well, shouldn't he get more points or something?"

"Well, that's what Dumbledore thought", Cedric agreed, "and Harry was awarded second place, for 'outstanding moral fibre'." Cedric grinned. I laughed, I could picture Dumbledore saying that and apparently James could too, because he chuckled with me.

"Moral fibre!" he laughed, "our son has 'outstanding moral fibre'! But of course he does! I wouldn't expect anything less from a Potter!"

"I'm assuming Krum wasn't too happy about being beaten." I said

"No he wasn't." Cedric agreed, "And you should have seen Karkaroff! He was so angry, he grumbled about it for the entire day."

"Hang on," James said, "did you say Karkaroff?"

"Yeah, he's the Durmstrang Heamaster." Cedric said "Why?"

"He used to be a Death Eater." James grumbled.

"Oh! That's right. He was in Azkaban for years! I can't believe they made him Headmaster!" I said.

"Wow, I didn't know he used to be a Death Eater." Cedric admitted, "That would explain why he is so competitive."

There was a moment of silence as everybody contemplated that.

"He could have put Harry's name in the Goblet!" I realised, "he would have been able to get past the age line and he has a reason to get rid of Harry if he was a Death Eater."

"You're right Lily." James said at the same time as Cedric said, "But if he was Headmaster and out of Azkaban, he wouldn't be working for You-Know-Who anymore would he?"

I opened my mouth to answer, but James got there first. "Once a Death Eater, always a Death Eater." He muttered darkly.

"James is right, Cedric" I said. "Those people can't just switch it off like that. Plus, the Dark Mark is forever burnt into their skin." I shuddered just thinking about it.

"That would explain who turned the cup into the portkey then." Cedric muttered.

"Sorry?" James said.

Cedric shook his head, "Don't worry, I'm getting to that bit." He took a deep breath. "This part is hardest for me to explain and I'm sorry but it kind of ends suddenly and I don't know anything else because I… well you'll see." He paused and looked down. "The third task was a giant maze. It went for miles and we were told that Professor Moody—the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher—" Cedric clarified, "had placed the Tri-Wizard Cup in the centre. The first person who got to the cup won. But it wasn't that easy. There were all sorts of magical beings roaming the maze. Telling riddles or testing us, and we weren't allowed through unless we got the answers right. Also, the hedges closed in randomly, blocking paths or trying to squash us. Roots would fly up and try to trip you. It was incredibly dangerous and difficult.

"You couldn't hear anybody, it was dark and eerily still for most of the maze. I had managed to pass a sphinx and a nymph just on good guesses and I knew that my luck would eventually run out, so I was hurrying to get to the cup before it did. I was running along a path when I ran into Harry. We were about to go when Krum came round, but it wasn't _really_ him. I think he was under the Imperius Curse." He paused at our shocked faces.

James recovered faster then I did. "Go on." He said.

Cedric nodded, I could see that he was beginning to look uncomfortable, nervous almost. "He shot a curse at us, but we ducked in time. I managed to disarm him at the same time that Harry stunned him. We shot red sparks up to signal he had been injured and we ran on. We turned a corner and, there was the cup, just at the end of the path." He paused for a moment, as if he was arranging his thoughts. "We both ran for it as fast as we could, then the roots started trying to grab our ankles. We tripped and stumbled but we kept going. Then I fell." He looked up at us.

"You're son is a very selfless person. He saw me fall and for a moment I thought he would leave me there. But he didn't. He didn't go on without me, even though it was a competition and he had a clear shot at the prize. He got down and freed me. When I could get up, we both stood there for a while, completely out of breath. I thanked him for saving me but he brushed it off. As we stood there, the hedges began closing in on us. Harry yelled, 'RUN!', and we both took off toward the cup." Cedric took a deep breath and I could see his hands were shaking slightly, but at that moment I was so caught up in the story, I didn't think about why that may be. My heart was thumping so loud I was surprised no one else could hear it.

Cedric continued, "We both got to the end and I could see the cup so clearly. It was within arms reach. But neither of us took it and the hedges were still closing in. 'Take it!' Harry shouted to me and I told him to take it because he had saved me, but he said, 'Together'. Then we counted together, 'one, two, three', and on three we both grabbed the handles." He swallowed loudly and took a deep breath. I was beginning to worry. What could happen now?

"I felt a strong pull and the next thing I knew, Harry and I had thumped hard onto the ground, dropping the cup. It was darker, and eerily quiet. We both got up and walked around slowly. I went over to the cup on the ground. I looked at it and I knew what I was instantly. I told Harry what it was, I said, 'Harry, the cup was a portkey'. I remember thinking, 'who would turn the cup into a portkey and bring us wherever we were?' I looked around then and realised we were standing in a graveyard. Harry seemed to realise this too, because he said, very quietly, more to himself then to me, 'I've been here before'. Then he looked at me and I was shocked by the fear and panic in his eyes. Louder this time, he said, 'Cedric, we have to get out of here…I've been here before…in a nightmare.'"

Cedric took a deep breath and paused with his story. It gave me time to think. _Graveyard, why is that familiar? _For some reason I could picture the place exactly, but before I could pinpoint why, Cedric continued, evidently wanting to get it over with.

"Almost as soon as Harry finished speaking, something moved in the darkness. Then Harry dropped to his knees and screamed. His eyes were closed and he was clutching his forehead at what I could only guess was intense pain. He managed to mutter through his teeth, 'Cedric…get back to the cup'. Before I could even ask why, I heard something again, and when I looked up, I saw a man in a long, black cloak. All I could register in my mind was that he was short and roundish, and he was holding a bundle of robes in his hands, though I think there was something in them. I raised my wand." He stopped suddenly and took another deep breath, though it sounded uneven. I noticed again that his hands were still shaking. I waited anxiously for him to keep going.

When he did, it was in just a whisper. "I raised my wand and said loudly, trying not to show my sudden fear, 'Who are you? What do you want?' Then a v-voice came from the…bundle…it said, 'Kill the spare.'" He swallowed thickly and I gasped as I realised. "The last things I remember are Harry's voice still screaming in pain, my wand shaking in my hands, and the cloaked figure raising his. Then there were some snarled words, a flash of green light, and the next thing I knew, I was on top of a hill."

There was complete silence as James and I absorbed this. It took me a while to realise I was crying and I hastily wiped the tears away. I wanted to ask when this all happened, but James obviously had a different idea.

"This…voice, the one that ordered you to…die," James asked hesitantly, "did it sound very…cold and quite, err, high?"

Cedric frowned at James, but then after a moment he said, "I guess…yeah it did. It was definitely male, but it sounded sort of like a…" he trailed off trying to find a comparison and suddenly a realised what James was getting at.

"A snake?" I helped.

"Yes!" Cedric said, "it was very….hissy."

"It was Voldemort." James said bluntly.

"What?"

"The bundle, in the cloaked man's arms." James clarified, "It was Voldemort. But, if he was in a bundle of cloaks, he wouldn't really be human…" he trailed off, thinking.

Cedric was nodding slowly, "That would make sense. A little while after I…arrived here there was a flash of white, and then I was back in the graveyard, though I wasn't really human." He frowned, "And Harry was there, duelling Voldemort. But they weren't really duelling…"

"Their wands were connected!" I yelled, remembering. That was why I could picture the graveyard perfectly. Because I had been there. That night I saw my son again. "And there was that web-thing around them."

"That's right!" James said, "We were there! And you were there two!" he pointed to Cedric.

"Yes I was." Said Cedric, but he didn't go on because he didn't need to explain that part. There was a long moment of silence before he sighed and stretched, "I should probably go, my nan will be worried about me."

James and I stood at the same time he did. "Thank you so much for telling us your story Cedric." I said, really meaning it. "I know it must have been hard for you, but we really appreciate it."

"Yes," James agreed, "and you are welcome to come back anytime." He opened the front door for Cedric. "You're a good man, Cedric. Talented and noble. It's a real shame that you were cheated out of life by Voldemort this way."

"Thank you," Cedric said, "I really appreciate that. I would just like to say that you two should never have gone the way you did. Harry really is a great guy, very talented and incredibly selfless. You should be very proud of him."

I smiled, tears in my eyes again. "Cedric, thank you. We are incredibly proud of him and we miss him everyday. We can't thank you enough for telling us what you know about him. We love to learn as much as possible. And you're very welcome back anytime you want."

Cedric nodded and walked out the door, leaving only his story behind.


	7. Reunited

**Things I Own: several very heavy textbooks, a dying cactus and Above!**

**Things I Don't: Harry Potter**

**

* * *

****6- Reuntited**

**JAMES **

The next year after Cedric told his story to Lily and I was remarkably quiet. A lot the time we spent contemplating what Harry's life is like, without us there and with the burden of unwanted fame. For almost 2 weeks after Cedric's recount, Lily and I did not leave our house. We discussed and argued about what the future might hold for our son and what events had to Voldemort wanting to kill him so badly, though that was pretty obvious.

"Well, when Voldemort's curse rebounded from Harry the night we died to protect him," I said to Lily about three days after Cedric had gone, "he was almost killed. The fact that the whole Wizarding World knew that a baby had defeated him would be _kind of _embarrassing, don't you think Lilyflower?"

Lily sighed, "yes it would be, but I think there is more to it then that. Voldemort is not you, he isn't obsessed with what people think about him." She ignored me when I stuck my tongue out at her, "So Harry survived Voldemort's killing curse when he was one, but I think that to Voldemort, that would be a sign of great power and talent. He would be worried that Harry would be the person that could ultimately defeat him. Think about it, James. After, years of being the undefeated bad guy of the magical world, he would be pretty confident that he was almost invincible. Then this little boy comes along, not only surviving the killing curse, but also sending straight back at Voldemort, almost destroying him, that would be a shock."

"So?" I'd asked.

"So, he would think that if he got rid of Harry earlier, it would be easier because he would be younger with less magical experience and knowledge, therefore less power. And also, then it would be done and out of the way and he'd be invincible again."

I'd nodded, "yes, that does make sense." Then I had grinned at her. "You're so smart! One of the many reasons why I love you."

It was a few days later when I thought of another question for her, that I really should have thought of earlier.

"Hey Lils," I had said over dinner, "You know how you said that Voldy would want to get rid of Harry earlier because it would be easier and everything?" She nodded.

"Well, why didn't he just do away with him before he went to Hogwarts. I mean, I couldn't be any easier. The muggles would not be difficult to get through, and Harry would have no idea how to use his magic, if he knew he had any at all. It would have been like taking candy from a baby!"

"Maybe, he didn't know where Harry was living?" She had replied with a frown, obviously stumped (which did _not _happen often).

I snorted. "C'mon Lil! This is Lord Voldemort we're talking about! He had managed to find our location, get through our Fidelius Charm without the password, and kill two Aurors without breaking a sweat. Like he couldn't find out where a young boy was in a muggle community."

"Maybe he was too weak?"

"Ok, he could have waited 5 years or so, how does Voldemort not manage to really be able recover for 14 years? Was it really that bad?" Again, she had no answer.

That was not the only conversation regarding the topic we had over the next year. We eventually told my parents about Cedric's story and our experience on earth and they said that they had never heard of a way that people in Above could go back down to earth until now. They were as horrified as we were about Harry and Voldemort, and demanded that we tell them immediately if we find out anything about their grandson.

But Harry seemed to be having a quiet year. Or at least quieter. We barely heard anything about him except that he had indeed escaped Voldemort (as we had assumed) and was now trying to tell everyone that Voldemort was back—which apparently, no one but Dumbledore believed—(but we sincerely hoped that wasn't true).

The good news is that we heard nothing about anymore encounters with the Dark Lord himself and for that we were thankful. We hoped that maybe, Harry would be able to avoid any unwanted surprises for a while. We were wrong.

…………………………………

"James, can we do something tonight?" Lily asked, as she was cooking the dinner. Though _she _wasn't really cooking, she was just watching as everything stirred and chopped by themselves, waving her wand occasionally to make different things float to specific spots.

"Like what?"

"Oh, I don't know! Maybe…go out somewhere. We could go see your Mum and Dad."

"Awww Lily! We saw them three days ago! Let's have a parents-free week. Just the two of us. It's never like that."

Lily laughed. "James, it's _always_ just the two of us." She sighed. "We could just go for a walk after din—" she was interrupted by a BEEP that echoed across the house. We stood there, looking at each other in shock for a second. It was the first time that someone we had known had arrived. Lily seeing that I had no intention of getting out of my seat at the kitchen table, rolled her eyes and went into the living room.

I heard gasp, then say "James" but there was no volume to her voice. I managed to heave myself out of my very comfortable seat and had taken about three steps toward the sound of her voice when she said my name again, this time a _lot_ louder.

"JAMES!"

I ran into the living room, but when I caught sight of the name on the screen I skidded to a stop immediately. **SIRIUS BLACK **was illuminated across the screen in bright purple. My mind seemed to have stopped working. All I could do was stare at the name of my best friend on the screen. I couldn't think, I couldn't speak. I continued stare dumbly, with my mouth gaping like a fish. Then Lily spoke, very quietly, like she only just realised.

"He was murdered…" And her words started my mind up again. I just got up and bolted out the front door, not bothering to get my coat and sprinted towards The Diamond Gates. I could hear Lily running behind me but all I could think of was that my best friend was here. I would see him for the first time in 15 years.

When I got to the top of the hill, I could see him. He was standing up, but not facing me and staring at the ground, obviously completely absorbed in his own thoughts. I was struck by compassion as I remembered what it was like to arrive here: the shock that you feel, which is then replaced by overwhelming sadness. But I knew you had to think of something else to distract yourself from the pain. I felt Lily take my hand and I looked down at her to see that she had tears in her eyes. I knew that she was remembering what it was like to be here at first like I had, and she felt pity for Sirius.

We slowly walked closer until we were about ten metres away but Sirius didn't turn. I took a deep breath, before saying, very quietly, "Sirius."

His head jerked up suddenly at the sound of my voice and he looked at me. Seeing his face only brought back a flood of memories into my mind, every single one of them happy. He didn't look a day older then last time I saw him. I watched his face as he recognized me and Lily. His eyes widened in shock and wonder, then they filled with tears (which is a very rare sight), and he grinned such a happy smile that it lit up his entire face and I couldn't help grinning in return.

"JAMES!" he yelled and bounded over to me giving me the biggest hug ever, almost knocking me over in the process.

"Hey Sirius" I muttered into his shoulder. I was so happy to see him, it was overwhelming, and it made my tears overflow. We stood there for several moments, trying to absorb the fact that we were together again after fourteen years apart. I heard him sobbing, holding onto me so tight it hurt, and I couldn't help but cry myself, but only because I was so happy. _I have my best friend back. I have my best friend back. _I repeated like a mantra to myself. After over 14 years apart. We had never spent more then 2 weeks away from each other before I was killed. It comforted me to know that he felt exactly the same as I did.

"It's been too long James." He murmured, about five minutes later after we had both managed to contain our sobs of happiness. But I couldn't keep the tears from running down my face like a fountain, and I could tell from the sound of his voice that he was struggling to do the same.

"I know mate, I know." I agreed. "Fourteen years is a…a very long time."

"When you died…it was so hard..." I heard him swallow loudly, "Then Harry was taken to those damned Dursleys…I would have…but Dumbledore said…actual relatives, you know." He didn't seem to be able to go on.

"Sirius, I-I know, but its okay. We completely understand." I said, "Let's not worry about that now."

I felt him nod. After another moment, he said, "I missed you so much." so quietly that Lily, who was standing on the other side of me wouldn't have been able to hear. And, knowing him like I did, I knew that that was a really hard thing for him to say. He wasn't one to express emotion regularly.

I took a deep breath. "I missed you too, mate. It really is not the same without you."

"Ditto" he replied as we broke apart. "Man, it's so good to see you Prongs." I grinned at the sound of my nickname, happiness filling me. It was so good to hear him calling me Prongs again.

"It's good to see you too, Padfoot." He grinned back, so wide that it was almost blinding. Then he frowned. "Where's Lilyflower?"

"Right here, Sirius." Lily said, stepping away from me so that Sirius could see her.

"LILY!" He immediately hugged her, picking her up and swinging her around yelling loudly about seeing his Lilyflower again. I was so happy to see him again that I didn't care that he was calling Lily _his _Lilyflower when she was obviously _my _Lilyflower. She was laughing and he was smiling, but I could still see that salty tears on his cheeks, and I wondered if I had ever seen Sirius cry this much before. That thought would have made me extremely sad, or worried, if I didn't know that it was because he was so happy. That's why I was crying so much.

He stopped spinning her and set her down again saying, "It's so good to see you again, Lily."

"I know Siri," Lily murmured, her tears flowing freely. "I really missed you."

"Aw, I missed you too Lils!" he said, hugging her again. They laughed, then he said, "But seriously, I really, really missed you, Lilyflower. It's not the same without you. And believe it or not, I did miss your death stares and ranting. Mostly because they were always directed at James, and you know how I love to watch you try to kill him."

She beamed at him through her tears. Obviously choosing to overlook his last sentence.

"Pad, as much as I like seeing you again. I have to ask you to step away from my wife." I said in my best serious voice.

Sirius only laughed and hugged Lily closer. "But Prongsie, it's just been you two for fourteen years! You had her all to yourself for long enough! Now it's my turn!"

I sighed and shook my head sadly, "Sirius, I thought you knew me." I said.

"I do know you!" he cried, outraged, but I ignored him.

"After all the years that I fancied Lily, then the years after that when she finally gave in to all my Potter charms,"—Lily snorted and muttered "Potter charms, my arse"—"I still hadn't had enough of her. Now you think that I would just give her to you! Even after fourteen years of just Lily and James time." I shook my head again.

Sirius pouted like stubborn child and I couldn't help smirk at him. "James," Lily said, walking away from Sirius to me to take my hand, "that was very sweet of you in a very weird way." She gave me a kiss and Sirius made a gagging sound.

"Aw man!" he groaned, "I didn't die defending Harry to come and watch this!"

That certainly distracted us. We both looked at him in shock before bursting out at the same time, _"WHAT?!"_

He rolled his eyes, "You know it is kind of weird when you two talk at exactly the same time like that."

"We don't talk at the same time!" Lily and I said in unison, then looked at each other before breaking into laughter.

"At least not all the time" I chuckled. Sirius just rolled his eyes again.

"Sirius," Lily said, "you died defending Harry?"

He shrugged, "Yeah, what was I meant to do? Just let the Death Eaters capture him and give him to Voldemort?" He wagged his finger at us as if we naughty were children. "I don't think so."

Lily and I gaped at him. "Death Eaters?" I managed to choke out.

"Yup," Sirius confirmed casually as if agreeing on the weather, "There were about ten of them, duelling with Harry and his friends before the Order and I showed up. Though I have to admit they were doing a pretty good job themselves. We fought for ages! There were spells going everywhere, hitting the wrong people, but I, like the quick, talented dueller I am," he demonstrated this by waving an imaginary wand and ducking and jumping around randomly, and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. "was not hit by a single one, and I managed to knock out several bad guys, including Lucius Malfoy, the bastard." He stopped dodging and ducking to stare at us solemnly, "Then Bellatrix got to me. Bloody wench." He muttered under his breath.

"Bellatrix killed you!?" I burst out.

He nodded and Lily said "Sirius, I'm so sorry!"

"It's okay. I died trying to defend my godson and I can't think of a better way to go." Lily and I nodded, completely agreeing. "Anyway," Sirius continued, "I'm here with you guys now, so—" he stopped suddenly, staring at something just over my left shoulder. I turned around to see Nikki standing there, smiling, tears already shining with tears.

I looked at her, then back at Sirius, who had tears in his eyes again, then back at her, and I couldn't help but grin. I couldn't wait for this. Lily looked at me significantly, and I nodded. She ran over to Nikki and I grabbed Sirius by the arm. Only when I yanked on him, did he stop staring at Nikki and looked at me suspiciously.

"What are you doing, James?"

"Helping you." I said simply, "You've always been emotionally inept, so I am guiding you through the first steps." He glared at me, but I ignored him, dragging him closer to Nikki, who was getting pushed by Lily, and not looking very happy about it.

When they got about 3 metres apart, we let go of them, and stepped off to the side, waiting.

Then Sirius said, very quietly, "Nikki…I can't believe…you…" he struggled for words, but then he shook his head, stepped quickly towards her and hugged her tightly, crying again.

She sobbed into his shoulder, "I missed you so much, Sirius…"

"Ah, Nik, I missed you too. So much, you have no idea."

She laughed quietly, "I think I do."

They held each other for a moment before Sirius pulled back to look at her seriously, "Nikki, when you died…I couldn't…it felt like…I—"

"Don't." she put her hand over his mouth, "Sirius, it doesn't matter. I don't want to think about that. But I do know what you are talking about, and it was hard for me too. I just don't want to go over that; I want to stay in the right now."

He grinned, "Me too." Then he leaned down to her, but she avoided him. He pulled back. "What is it Nik?" She shook her head, still looking down. "Oh no. You haven't…moved on, have you?" When he said that, I saw a flash of fear and worry in his eyes, and I knew that he loved her more then he let on.

Her head snapped up at that. "No! Of course I haven't…I mean, I did go on a few dates…" he cringed, his grey eyes darkening, and she hurried to continue, "but none of them were, well…they weren't you." She smiled at him.

"Of course they weren't," he grinned haughtily, "no one is as good as the real Sirius Black." I snorted in disgust, and he gave me the finger. "If you haven't met anyone else, then what's the problem Nik?" he asked, pulling her chin up so she would look at him.

"Well, I just don't know if it will be the same. I mean, we're both dead, but how do I know that your feelings haven't changed?"

He snorted, "No amount of time could change how I feel about you, Nikki. Not even Bellatrix's killing curse could. You're the only one for me. So of course I still love you!"

She beamed at him, and said, "Good, because I love you too." He grinned happily, and leant down to kiss her again, but stopped suddenly, turning to us. "You can go now."

I laughed, "No way, mate. We've been waiting to see this for 15 years!" Lily nodded. Sirius shrugged, then turned back to Nikki, and finally kissed her.

"Woooo!" I cheered, and Lily laughed and clapped enthusiastically. They tried to ignore us, but when we kept going, they broke apart to glare at us. "Awww, c'mon!" I complained, "We are just so happy for you."

Sirius grinned, slipping his hand into Nikki's, "Thanks, Prongs. I'm pretty happy too."

"I know you are, Pad." I said as Lily ran over to give her friend a congratulatory hug.

"So, anyone else I should be reunited with? Hey! Where are your parents?"

"Well," I said, "This part of Above is only for magical people, so Lily's parents aren't here, but mine are. We can go visit them if you want."

He nodded enthusiastically, before stopping and adding curiously, "What's 'Above'?"

Lily laughed, "It's where you are now. It's basically heaven. C'mon we will explain on the way to the Potters."

"Okay," Sirius said, throwing his arm over my shoulder cheerfully, while keeping a firm hold on Nikki's hand. As we slowly walked down the hill, and I couldn't help but think how happy I was to see my best mate. Sirius and I had never spent so long apart in our lives. We hadn't even had 14 years of life before we met and it was so good to have him back. I was the happiest I had been in 15 years, one little piece of my life on earth had joined my world up here. Thinking of that reminded me of Moony and Wormtail.

"Hey Padfoot, how are Remus and Peter doing? Has Peter finally got a job and has—"

"—has Remus finally found someone?" Lily interrupted me.

Sirius laughed, "Well Lily, I think he has."

"Really?" she and Nikki squealed at then same time.

He laughed again, "Calm down girls," he chuckled, "nothing's happened yet. But it will. They will get together eventually."

I rolled my eyes at my mate's words. It reminded me that Sirius used to always blow things way out of proportion and predict things that would never happen. Lily obviously thought of this too because she said, "If they haven't even got together yet, how do you know it's going to happen Siri? Last time you said something like that was about a month after Harry was born, and you thought I was pregnant again because I wouldn't have any Firewhiskey."

I laughed with Nikki and Sirius looked offended, "Hey! I so could have been right! You never turn down the opportunity to drink!"

Lily rolled her eyes. "Sirius, it was ten o'clock in the morning! I wasn't going to get drunk before lunchtime!"

"Why not? James and I always used to."

Lily turned her angry gaze on me. "That was before I married you!" I said quickly, while Nikki shouted loudly at Sirius for being irresponsible, "and it only happened once…twice." She glared at me harder. "Okay…four times." I admitted. "But then we got married and I stopped."

She seemed to believe me and turned away. I sighed in relief; _that was close. _I quickly changed the subject. "So Sirius, how come you are so sure, this girl and Moony will get together."

"I just know." Sirius said turning away from his argument with Nikki, "I know that Moony really likes her. He even told me."

I glared at him suspiciously, "And how did you get it out of him?"

"He just told me." Sirius said innocently, we all just looked at him "Okay, so had to use _levicorpus _on him for about an hour, but he told me eventually."

That surprised me. "Really? That's all you had to do? Just hang him upside down? That's not that bad."

"I know," Sirius agreed, "I was surprised as well. He really likes her, and it didn't really bother him that I knew."

That was a shock as well, "He didn't care that you knew? He hates it when you know who he likes. Remember in fifth year when you found out he liked Josephine Prelanski? You tried to help get them together by telling her he was a great kisser."

Sirius laughed loudly, "Oh man, I forgot about that. She told everyone he was gay." He laughed again. "I wonder why nobody thought I was gay?"

Lily rolled her eyes. "Because then you slept with Josephine Prelanski. Not to mention most of the girls in the school."

"That's not true!" he huffed indignantly. "I didn't sleep with the Slytherins. Ugh." He shuddered.

I laughed and nodded but Lily sighed in aggravation. "Name one girl you didn't sleep with at Hogwarts. Not a Slytherin."

Sirius's face fell, and I laughed again because I knew that he could never remember the name of any girls unless they were his friend—like Lily—or he dated them for a longer period of time—like Nikki—(but that was very rare). Hell, he couldn't even remember the name of a girl he _had_ slept with. The Moony and Wormtail and I used to make it a game. We used to set Sirius the task of coming back and remembering the girl's name, and if he did, we would give him 10 galleons each. And if he didn't remember her name, he would have to give us 2 galleons each. Let's just say that we were all very rich by the end of the year, and Sirius was dirt poor.

"Errrr…Mary!"

Nikki glared at him. "You just said her because you remember her name because she was my best friend!"

He just looked at her. "What's your point?"

Lily sighed again, "Sirius, you can't do that, its cheating! And you did sleep with her remember? The night of your birthday party in sixth year. It was your birthday, so you wanted a shag, Mary was depressed about Remus dumping her, and you were both so drunk you couldn't walk straight. Merlin knows how you both managed to get everything in the right place!"

Sirius grinned, "Lily, Lily, Lily," he tutted, much to her annoyance, "you know that intoxication never effected my shagging abilities. And the drunkenness would explain why I don't remember that particular night. How is it that you remember it so well?"

"Because you slept with our BEST FRIEND!" She screamed, indicating to herself and Nikki, who was glaring at him.

"Oh."

I laughed, putting my arm around my beautiful, fuming redhead, "calm down Lils. I want to see if Sirius can actually name anyone."

We both looked at him, and he frowned in thought, and long moments past. Finally, his head snapped up. "Lily!" he yelled, pointing at her, enthusiastically, "I didn't sleep with Lily!"

I rolled my eyes, "Of course you didn't Pads. You would never have slept with Lily, because you knew that I would have never forgiven you for laying a hand on my girl, not to mention hexed you into the next century."

"Ah yes, that would be why."

Lily looked at me, "But we only started dating in seventh year. What about all the time before that?"

"Just because we weren't dating doesn't mean I wasn't completely in love with you. Everyone knew that, but The Marauders especially knew. I wouldn't let them even look at you properly."

Lily grinned and kissed me on the cheek, as Sirius exclaimed, "Of course we knew! You couldn't go a day without saying something about Lily." He started prancing up and down, and said in a high, squeaky voice, "'isn't she gorgeous? Look at her hair! And aren't her eyes just the most beautiful things you have ever seen? She's so perfect! Oh I love her! La di da di da.'" He stopped his skipping and his very bad (not to mention girly) impersonation of me. "You never shut up!"

I frowned at him while Nikki laughed so hard, she was clutching at her stomach. "I think that was a bit of an exaggeration." He shrugged, grinning cheekily. "Anyway, you knew that Lily was going to be mine eventually."

"I did." Sirius nodded seriously (no pun intended), "I knew you would get together, and I was right. Which is why I know Moony and Tonks will be together eventually."

"Wait a minute." Nikki stared at him, having managed to contain her giggles, "Tonks? As in your cousin Nymphadora Tonks? Remus and _Tonks_?"

"Yup, Moony and Dora sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N -"

"Yes, Sirius we get it." Said Lily. "you think that Remus is meant to be with Tonks?" when he nodded she burst out, "But what about the age gap? Does she know about his lycanthrope? Does he care that—?"

"Whoa, whoa, calm down Lilyflower." Said Sirius, "nothing has happened yet that I know of. Last time I saw him, he was still deciding whether to ask her out or not. And I think he was leaning more towards 'not'."

"Why?" I asked.

"Because! Remus knew that she liked him as well, but he didn't want to start a relationship because of his…furry little problem." He grinned, and I couldn't help but laugh at the nickname we had for Remus's illness.

"So why are you so sure they will be together in the end, if he was leaning towards not asking her out?" Lily asked, clearly getting frustrated.

"_Because_" he repeated, "I just know okay? Remus will give in and ask her out or something. I know it." Nikki rolled her eyes at him, and I couldn't help but laugh at the stubborn expression on his face. Then I remembered something.

"Padfoot, you didn't answer my first question." I said, "Did Wormtail finally get a job?"

Sirius grimaced and did not look happy about the change of subject. It was a moment before he answered. "Oh, he has a job Prongs, but you wouldn't like it. But I would rather not talk about him right now. I haven't spoken to that bastard for 14 years."

That hurt. How could Sirius call a fellow Marauder a bastard? Why hasn't he spoken to our friend in 14 years? But before I could question him there was a yell.

"SIRI!!" We all looked up to see my mother running towards us.

"JUDY!!" Sirius shouted just as she got to us and threw her arms around Sirius.

"Oh, Sirius," she sobbed, "It's so good to see you! It has been so long. But why are you here? You should be with your godson."

"I know Mrs P, but I died trying to protect him and I just hope he is now safe."

Then my dad came up. "Sirius it's so good to see you, lad."

"MR P!" Sirius yelled, hugging my dad as well. We all laughed. Sirius had always loved my parents because they cared for him like his parents should have. When he ran away from home in the summer after our fifth year, he came and stayed at my place. My parents loved him like a second son, though sometimes they seemed to love him more then they loved me.

After a long chat with my parents, it was decided the Sirius would stay with Nikki, since she had a spare room until he got a house of his own. He seemed very happy about that. As we trudged back, Sirius said, "I have so much to tell you guys. You have missed a lot over the past 14 years. But don't worry I will fill you in on as much as I can."

"Sirius, as much as I would love to stay up all night learning about Harry and everything we have missed, I'm really tired and I know you are. We will talk in the morning okay?" Lily said.

Sirius reluctantly agreed and we said our good byes to him and Nikki. Luckily she only lived one street across, so it was very convenient. I fell asleep that night with a big smile on my face for the first time in 14 years.

* * *

**There it is! Sirius has arrived!! But he has a lot to tell Lily and James, and you all know it's not exactly the best news!! Keep reading and keep reviewing. gj x**


	8. Sirius's Tale

**7- Sirius's Tale**

**SIRIUS **

It was so good to see Lily and James again. I hadn't seen my best friend for 14 years and for everyday of that I felt like a part of me had been missing. Now that I was with James again, that missing part has fallen back into place and I was the happiest I have been for a long time. It feels like we have never been apart. He really is my brother, and I wasn't the same without him. I know what you're thinking; _cheesy. _And it is cheesy, but it's also completely true.

Then there's Nikki, and I was just going to get even cornier if I think about her too much, so I will keep it short and simple. I love her. So much. I have since fifth year and when she died, it literally broke my heart, so being killed by my little shit of a cousin was really a blessing in disguise, because she was back in my life. It's like nothing has changed.

I thought that since I was going to stay at her house, I would really enjoy my first night in Above, but to my dismay, she has a spare room in her house and she ordered me into it, saying that we should "take it slow." Damn.

I woke up really early in the morning, and after a while of lying in bed, I got up and crept into Nikki's room to watch her sleep. She looked so peaceful and radiant with her blond hair fanned across the pillow and her pale skin glowing, and that was when it hit me. I really was in heaven. And she was my angel.

I contemplated getting into bed with her, just to give her a hug, to make sure she wasn't just a really good dream, but then I thought about the screaming that would accompany it, and I decided against it. So I sat on the couch for a while, just thinking.

I thought of Harry. Did he and his friends get out of the Ministry of Magic safely? Is he sad about my death? Though I was pretty sure the answer to that was _yes_. It better be.

Nikki came in about ten minutes later, dressed in running gear. It really didn't surprise me. Even when we were at Hogwarts, she used to love running. I didn't mind the outfit either, especially her tiny shorts. She gave me a kiss on the cheek and then said, "I'm going for a run for about half an hour."

"I figured."

She laughed, "Make yourself some breakfast, Siri. Have as much as you want. I assume that your stomach is still the bottom less pit it was back on Earth?"

I patted it proudly, "I don't know, but I think I will pop over to James and Lily's place to find out. You know how much I love Lily's pancakes."

She smiled, and she looked so beautiful, I couldn't help get up and kiss her. "What was that for?" she asked.

I shrugged, "You're beautiful, and I really missed you."

"Me too, Siri. And I'm really happy you're back here with me." She said giving me a hug, "But I really have to go for a run."

I laughed, "So dedicated."

"You bet." And with a stunning wink, she ran out the door.

I stared after her for a while, before I went and got dressed, then walked over to the Potters. I knocked quietly, but nobody answered as I expected. They both always slept in. So lazy. I let myself in, (they really shouldn't keep their door unlocked) and went and sat down at the kitchen table to wait for them to wake up.

As I sat, I let my mind travel back to what I was thinking about before. Harry, his friends, and the biggest question of them all; what does the future hold for him? I was almost certain that Harry was the one that had to defeat Voldemort, though I could be wrong. I had only been here a few hours and already I wanted to see my godson again. Just to check that he's safe and trying to move on. I don't know how James and Lily survive. They have been here 14 years and haven't seen their son the entire time. Super heroes, I tell you.

As I was thinking things over, Lily came into the kitchen saying brightly, "Oh, morning Sirius! What are you doing here? Why aren't you with Nikki?"

"Running." I grunted, still thinking about Harry.

She nodded in understanding, then said, "James is still asleep, the lazybones. I swear, that man is always sleeping–" She stopped talking suddenly and I realised she had seen my face and it was probably very clear what I was thinking about. She sat down at the table next to me, putting her hand on my shoulder. "Sirius," she said, "You can't dwell on it. It doesn't help anything. I would know." She smiled slightly.

I nodded, "I know, but it's hard not to. How do you two do it? I mean, I have been here only a few hours and already I want to see Harry again. You both have been here for 14 years and you haven't seen your son once. How do you stop thinking and worrying about him?"

She sighed and dropped her hand from my shoulder. She stared at the table as she spoke. "We never stop thinking about him, Sirius. He is always at the back of my mind, and I know that he is on James's too. But I try not to dwell on it too much because it only makes me sad." She sniffed, "I really miss him Siri."

"I know Lil, I know." I said, putting my arm around her fragile shoulders that were hunching with the effort to keep in tears. "He really misses you too, you know. He is always thinking about you. He used to ask me and Remus all these questions about you and James, the ridiculous and genius things the Marauders got up to at school." I laughed at the memories and even Lily, who hated our pranks, gave a little chuckle. "I remember once, he was at school and somehow he found out about that time in our fifth year when James used _levicorpus _on Snape in front of everyone, and you came out and yelled at him, remember? Then Snape got embarrassed because you were defending him and he called you a…well you know." She nodded solemnly, but the corners of her mouth were turned up slightly as she relived the memory.

I couldn't help but continue recounting it, just to see her smile, "Then James yelled at Snivellus for calling you…what he did. Which only made you mad, and you said something about his arrogance and how you would rather date the Giant Squid then him."

She was laughing by now. "That's right," she said in between her laughter, "he _was _an arrogant toe rag back then. Only when he deflated his head, did I come to see what a great guy he really was."

"And also because you were both Heads of the school, and you were stuck sharing a common room together, so it was very hard to avoid him." I pointed out.

She stuck out her tongue at me, and I laughed. We were both still laughing together when James came downstairs after his morning shower, with nothing on but a pair of boxers that had little on broomsticks and Quidditch balls zooming around, and his towel around his shoulders.

"Morning!" he said cheerfully.

"Well, aren't you in a good mood this morning." His wife remarked.

James shrugged, "It's just good waking up, coming downstairs and seeing my best mate and the woman I love waiting for me. Just like old times!" he grinned, ruffling my hair in a very annoying way and dropping into the chair opposite me just as Lily got up to make breakfast.

I nodded as I smoothed my gorgeous hair back down, "Yeah, just like old times, Prongs. Except you used to wear more clothes then."

"Yes James, would it really kill you to put a t-shirt on or something?" Lily said.

"Oh Lil, I know you love seeing me without a shirt on." He chuckled, winking at her.

She blushed slightly and I swallowed a laugh. "She might James, but I don't really. So be a good pal and put a shirt on. Please?" I said making my puppy dog face that no-one could refuse.

He rolled his eyes, but muttered, "Fine.", as I knew he would, and trudged back upstairs. I grinned at Lily. "You're welcome." I said. She hit me on the head with her spatula.

James came back downstairs just as Lily was putting his breakfast on the table. "Thank you, dear." He said giving her a kiss on the cheek. It never ceased to amaze me how they continue to act like a loved-up newlywed couple. Gag.

When Lily sat down, James said, "so what were you two laughing about before?"

Lily grinned, "Sirius was telling me about how Harry somehow found out about that time in our fifth year after our OWL's where you were terrorizing Snape by the lake and when I defended him he called me a you-know-what."

"Oh yeah!" James said, "Then I tried to defend you and you totally insulted me. Which really hurt by the way."

"And you have gotten over it entirely." She muttered sarcastically.

"Harry found out about that in _his _fifth year, and it confused him because he couldn't understand how Lily could hate you so much, then end up marrying you." I said to James.

He laughed. "Poor boy probably thought I gave her a love potion or something."

"I think he did." I chuckled. "So, he was really desperate to know how you two got together, so he broke into the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor's office and flooed his head over to Grimmauld Place to ask me and Remus."

Lily scowled. "Seems he inherited some of your rule breaking skills James."

"Chip off the old block!" he said proudly. "So Sirius, did you and Moony tell him that I wooed her over with my good looks and charm?"

Lily then turned back to me and said, "I take back what I said before. He still is an arrogant toe-rag."

I laughed, "After we explained that Lily only could see the real you after you deflated your head in seventh year, James, he seemed happier. He loved learning about you guys. He always wanted Moony and me to tell him stories." I frowned, "Though we didn't really get the chance to very often."

Lily said, "Why not?" at the same time as James wondered, "Padfoot? How come you haven't mentioned Wormtail at all? It's just you and Moony."

I sighed heavily, it seems I couldn't put it off any longer. "I'll answer both your questions, but it's going to be a long story, I'm going to have to start from the beginning." I shifted in my seat uncomfortably, this was going to take a while.

………………………………………

"Now, I am warning you, some of the things I am going to tell you, you are not going to like. This is not necessarily a happy story and so I am just telling you now. Lily, you may cry, and James, you may get very angry and feel like throttling some people, but let me just remind you now that you are both in Above, and most of the people in this story are still on earth and there is no possible way of getting to them, or protecting them."

I paused, letting all that sink in. I could see both of them were now worrying about how bad my story was going to be. _They aren't going to like this, _I thought grimly. Then I started my story.

"Okay, so the night you two were…killed, I was at home and I got this funny feeling in the pit of my stomach. I knew that something had happened, I just wasn't sure who it was. Remember I had the same feeling about the Longbottoms?" When they nodded, I continued, "So I knew that something was wrong but because I had no idea who to help, I couldn't go anywhere, and to be honest, after about an hour, I kind of forgot about it. Then Dumbledore arrived." I swallowed, even with them both sitting here with me now, I couldn't help feel the crippling sadness I felt when I heard the news. I pushed on, "He was not crying, but his eyes were full of tears and they had lost that sparkle they always had, you know?

"Then he said, 'Sirius,' and for some reason, you two both suddenly popped up in my mind immediately; I knew it was you two. I found out what had happened and I was so angry with myself. I felt like it was my fault you were killed, if I hadn't–"

"Wait, wait." Lily interrupted, "Siri, it wasn't your fault. We know it wasn't your fault. You weren't the secret keeper, and we know that Peter would never do it. He _was _the secret keeper but we know that he would never tell Voldemort the password. We know he wouldn't."

James was nodding in agreement. "We know that Wormtail would never do that to us. He is a Marauder, a loyal friend. Voldemort just had some kind of super-powerful magic."

"But he didn't James!" I exclaimed. "He didn't have any freaky magic that could get through the Fidelus Charm! No magic can, no matter how powerful! All he needed was the password. And he had it."

"What?" Lily gasped.

I ignored her, taking a deep breath, "As soon as Dumbledore told me the news, I went straight to Peter's house. When he answered and realised it was me, he was overly sad about what had happened. He had never been a good liar, you know that, Prongs. I didn't even bother leaving the doorstep. I just grabbed his arm, yanked up his sleeve, and there it was. The Dark Mark."

Lily gasped and began to sob uncontrollably. James just sat there, his mouth hanging open, staring at nothing in particular, his eyes glazed over with shock. He was there for a few long moments, then, as though someone had suddenly flipped a switch, he jumped up and started storming around the room, shouting at the top of his lungs. "HOW COULD HE DO THAT TO US?!! WE WERE HIS FRIENDS! HIS _ONLY_ FRIENDS! AND HE **BETRAYED **US!! HE IS THE REASON I AM DEAD! THE REASON HARRY HAS NO PARENTS! WHAT A BASTARD!! WHAT A TWO-FACED BASTARD!! WHAT A DOUBLE-CROSSING PIECE OF FUCKING _**SCUM**_!!"

"Prongs–"

"I HOPE HE ROTS IN HELL. NO! I HOPE VOLDEMORT KILLS HIM, THEN HE ROTS IN HELL. NO! I HOPE VOLDEMORT TO TORTURES HIM TO INSANITY UNTIL HE BEGS FOR MERCY, THEN KILLS HIM SO _THEN _HE CAN ROT IN HELL!"

He took a deep breath to calm himself, and it seemed like only then did he realise that Lily was balling her eyes out, and I was just watching him storm around his kitchen, knocking things over and swearing about a friend he thought he could trust. He put his arm around Lily and gently pulled her over to the couch, where he sat down heavily and Lily buried her face in his shoulder. "Sirius," he said, his voice suddenly sounding like he had aged 30 years, "how could he do that to us? We were his friends for so long. We defended him when he was being teased, we put up with him when he was annoying…we _trusted _him Siri. He made him a bloody MARAUDER for god's sake! And this is how he repays us." He swallowed, his eyes suddenly filled with tears.

"I know James," I whispered, getting up and walking over to the couch opposite them "we all trusted him." By this time, Lily had managed to calm her sobs and she looked up at me, her eyes rimmed with red and still full of tears, making the green stand out.

"Sirius," she croaked out, "continue with your story,"

"Yeah, I want to hear about how you blew him apart." James added, anger leaking into his voice.

I gave a short humourless chuckle, "Prongs, you have know idea how ironic that sentence is." I said, before quickly continuing before they could ask questions. "Now where was I before you started storming around and ranting like a madman? Oh yes. So, as soon as I saw the Mark I knew. I was so angry. Not only at him, for killing you guys, but also, I was so angry at myself for convincing you guys to make him the secret keeper in the first place. I thought that Voldemort would never go to Peter because he would never suspect him. I never realised it would be the other way around.

"I drew my wand and forced him out into the street—which was crowded with clueless muggles, by the way—and yelled at him for being the reason you were dead. He blubbered and stuttered about how he didn't have a choice and about how the _Dark Lord_ would have killed him. His selfishness was the final straw for me. I aimed at him while he screamed that I had killed you two, but then there was an explosion and half the street was blown apart, killing about twelve muggles. When the smoke was starting to clear, I saw a flash of silver, and when I could eventually see clearly again, Pettigrew was gone. For one mad second, I thought that I had cast the spell without knowing it, and it had worked, but then I realised that I would have known if I had cast the spell, which I hadn't. I didn't understand, but that was when I saw it. His finger."

Lily gasped in horror, looking sick at the very thought, and James blurted out, "His _what?"_

I nodded, "He had his wand behind his back and just before I cursed him, he blew the bloody street apart! Then, under the cover of the explosion, he cut off his finger and transformed into fucking Wormtail. He set me up and got away alive." They just stared at me for a long moment. "I couldn't believe I had let that bastard get away! I was so furious with myself that I think I sort of had a moment of madness. I was so overcome with my hatred for him and myself and my absolute sadness and pain about losing you two, I just laughed. I laughed like a mad man for ages, even when the Aurors came and dragged me off to Azkaban." I hung my head.

"What?" Lily breathed.

"I didn't even get a proper trial." I murmured to the table, "They convicted me of murder, several times. Murder of twelve muggles as well as 'a fellow wizard'" I made imaginary quotation marks in the air. "They gave me life in Azkaban."

"BUT THAT'S NOT FAIR!" James yelled, "you didn't kill those muggles and you didn't kill a fellow wizard at all!! Didn't they give you a chance to tell your story?"

I snorted and looked up at their outraged faces, "Of course not. I was a 'mass murderer'. I supposedly destroyed an entire street, and laughed as I was dragged away. That's more then enough evidence where they were concerned."

"Oh Sirius, I'm so sorry," said Lily quietly, "That must have been awful for you. Did you die there?"

I was about to answer, but James quickly jumped in, "No, it couldn't have Lils, because the screen said he was murdered. And he told us himself about Bellatrix." He frowned, "How did you get out? If you were in for life."

I grinned at him, suddenly amused. "How do you think Prongs? I escaped."

James laughed and lent over the table to touch his fist to mine. "Of course you did Pads! I didn't expect anything less of you, being a Marauder and all."

"Not to mention Sirius Black." I laughed with him.

Lily frowned at me, "Sirius, how did you manage to escape? You would have been a high security prisoner, because they thought that you were a mass murderer. You would have had Dementors everywhere. Azkaban is impossible to escape from!"

"_Was_ impossible, Lils. Was." I grinned. James laughed.

She rolled her eyes, "Oh, honestly."

"So, how did you do it?" James said in an excited voice.

I sighed. "Don't get too excited, James. I didn't start trying to escape from the moment I was put in there. Honestly, I didn't really care that I was there. It didn't matter to me that everyone thought I was a murderer. I knew the truth and that's all that mattered to me. If I wasn't in prison, I wouldn't have wanted to go home, because that's where I had found out about your death's, I didn't really care about living, because I had nothing to live for anymore.

"But the more I was in there, the more I started to think about things. I thought about Remus, and how he would be devastated about your death's, but then to find out that his only friend left had been thrown into Azkaban for apparently killing his other friend, I felt sorry for him. He didn't know that Peter was to blame. He told me later that he thought that I had gone mad with grief and had killed Peter by accident. I also thought about Harry. I wondered what his life was like, not having any true family. Dumbledore had told me he was going to the Dursley's and over the years, I wished more and more that I was out of that hell-hole so I could take care of Harry myself. But I still had no real motivation to get out, Harry would not just be allowed to live with a murderer and I was depressed.

"It wasn't until I had been in Azkaban for twelve years that I found my motivation. It was the picture on the front page of The Daily Prophet that one of the other prisoners had acquired. It was a picture of the Weasley family. Harry's best friend Ron and his family." I added, because they were both looking slightly confused. When they realised what I was talking about, they nodded. "Well, Ron's Dad had won this lottery thing that the Ministry of Magic held each year—he worked there—and he had taken the whole family on a trip to Egypt to visit the eldest son Bill, who was working over there. Their family isn't really what you would call 'well off', so it was nice that all of them could go away together."

"But wait Sirius," Lily interrupted, "Why would a picture of the Weasley's give you motivation to get out? Did you even know Harry was friends with Ron?"

I rolled my eyes, "Of course I didn't know they were friends, Lily! I had been in Azkaban for 12 bloody years!" I shook my head at her.

She crossed her arms angrily. "That's my point!"

"It wasn't the _family_ in the photo that was my motivation, exactly." I continued, "At first glance I didn't really care about the photo. But then I saw him. He was sitting on Ron's shoulder." I paused dramatically before saying, "Wormtail."

"In the picture? With the Weasley's?" James asked

"Yes, Prongs. He was sitting on Harry's best friend's shoulder with the entire Weasley family."

James shook his head, "I'm sorry, that's just really weird."

I rolled my eyes at him, but otherwise continued with my story, pretending James's daftness hadn't interrupted me. "So anyway, I would recognise that rat anywhere, having spent almost three years of school scampering around with him"—I grinned at James—" but also because he was missing a toe on one of his feet. Suddenly, I was inspired to get out. He was still alive and posing as a pet rat, given a home, getting food and everything for free, while I rotted away in a cell, and I wasn't going to stand for it. He was the reason my best friend was killed and _I _was the one locked away. That night, I started planning.

"At first it seemed hopeless. As you said Lily, Azkaban was impossible to escape from, but I was determined. I got obsessed; it became all I thought about. One night, I had a brainwave. I was sitting in my cell, looking at the picture on the Daily Prophet for about the billionth time and suddenly I thought, 'I know that Sirius could never avoid the Dementors, they would sense him immediately, but maybe _Padfoot_ could'." James and Lily's eyes widened as they realised what I meant.

"Sirius, that's brilliant!" Lily almost shouted, "Dementors can't sense animals as strongly as humans, even Animagi. That was really smart Siri." She added, sounding quite shocked, which was definitely and insult to my intelligence.

I smirked proudly as James pouted, "I could have thought of that." He said, sounding like a jealous child.

"I know you could have, sweetie," Lily laughed lightly, "but for Sirius to think of something like that is quite an accomplishment." With his ego properly stroked, it was now James's turn to smirk and mine to sulk.

"I resent that!" I said. James smirk grew more pronounced and Lily rolled her eyes. "You are welcome to keep making jokes at my expense," I grumbled, "unless you want to hear the rest of the story. I'm not even up to the good bit. Harry hasn't even come in yet."

Lily shook her head at me and said, "Okay, we won't be mean we promise. Now keep telling the story Siri, we want to hear your gripping escape tale."

"Oh well, if you insist!" I said, happy to keep them absorbed in my story. I put on a deep, dramatic voice, "So, after his amazing idea, the heroic and devilishly handsome Sirius, who all the girls in Azkaban wanted a shag with, changed into his Padfoot animagus form, and managed to slip out of the bars of his cell. His black fur was silky smooth and glistened in the moonli–"

"Sirius!" James and Lily yelled at the same time.

I sighed heavily, "Fine then, suit yourselves, have the boring version." They both rolled their eyes (at the same time, I might add, which was kind of scary) so I moved on. "so yes, I discovered that as Padfoot I could slip out of the bars of my cell quite easily, being underfed and everything. And the fact that I was black was very handy indeed, because it was night time and none of the other prisoners would have been able to see me. I tried to avoid the Dementors as best I could because, you know, I didn't want to risk it. Anyway, to make a long story short, it took me a while, but eventually I managed to escape. Sirius Black was free once again." I smiled triumphantly.

James grinned and gave me a high five, "Nice work, mate." he said.

"So what did you do once you were free?" Lily asked, clearly hooked in my enthralling story.

"Well, I realised that it wouldn't take them long to notice I was gone and as soon as it was realised, I knew there would be wanted posters everywhere, with me being a 'mass murderer' and all." I rolled my eyes, "so I knew I had to stay in dog form. Being an illegal animagus, no one would recognise me and I could remain invisible. I also realised that it was still the summer holidays for the kids, and I had no idea where the Weasley's lived so I would have to wait until school started.

"So to pass the time, I went to try and find the Dursley's house, to see if I could get a glimpse of my godson who I hadn't seen for 12 years. Let me tell you guys, it wasn't very hard to find their street. All the houses have immaculate lawns and perfect gardens, I knew it was where they would have lived. The day I got there, I had to keep hidden, because I was much more obvious in the daylight. I just roamed in the bushes until nightfall, keeping invisible in the bushes. When night came I was still searching for their house, when I heard some man yelling and a woman screaming. When I looked up there was a little dot floating around in the sky. It looked like a giant balloon. I didn't think much of it, but Harry told me later that it was Dursley's sister. She was teasing him and insulting you two, apparently and he got mad and accidently made her inflate like a balloon and she floated away. Took days to get her down I heard." I chuckled.

Lily and James burst into laughter and I couldn't help laughing with them. I'm sure they could have pictured it very easily. We had all met Dursely's sister once at their wedding. Man, she was one hell of a woman. Once we calmed down a bit James said, "Boy, I would have loved to see that." He laughed again.

"Well, he certainly is your son isn't he?" I said, "James, you were the only person I would have expected to think of that. Before I met Harry, that is."

James and Lily were both beaming proudly. Lily didn't even seem to mind that her son had expanded her brother-in-law's sister into a balloon. There were a couple of minutes of silence while they were caught up in their thoughts.

"Oh, sorry Pads," James suddenly said, coming back to reality, "continue."

"Right." I said, "So a little while later, I was hiding in the bushes near the park at the end of their street, when I hear someone storming down the street dragging what sounded like a trunk. They got to the park and sat down on the curb, not seeming very happy. That was when I realised that it was a teenage boy with black hair that stuck up every where just like yours always did James." I grinned at him, "I knew it was Harry, so I moved closer and he must have heard me because he turned around. It was him. I immediately recognised his face because he looked _exactly_ like you in your 3rd year, Prongs. But he has Lily's eyes. It was so surreal seeing him for the first time in 12 years, but I only had a moment because I knew he had seen me and I had to run. I had got a glimpse of my godson, so I had to get on my way."

I paused, and Lily and James gaped at me. "That's it?" Lily asked, looking slightly dumbfounded, "you just walked away?"

I shrugged and nodded. "I had to keep moving." She just shook her head at me.

"So, you saw him, and then you went and tracked down Wormtail?" said James, getting back on track.

"No, the term hadn't started yet so I had to wait. I also had to figure out how to get into the castle. It's Hogwarts, for crying out loud! It wasn't going to be easy. I spent months planning it, and to be honest, I eventually decided to just make it up as I went along."

James laughed, "The best kind of plan,"

"Yes, and you and Moony both know James that that is the type of plan that I do best." I said. He grinned and nodded.

"So term started and by the time I actually managed to get into the castle, it was more then half way through. It took a long time. Once I was in the castle –still in animagus form of course- I went straight up to the Gryffindor Tower. But as I was making my way up there I realised that I didn't know the password. I was stuck again. Then I noticed a little piece of parchment just lying on the ground. When I looked at it, I realised that it had a list of passwords written on it. I couldn't believe my luck! I picked it up and went straight to the Fat Lady. She wasn't happy when I woke her up—you both know how she is when you wake her in the middle of the night—but after–"

"Sirius!" Lily cut in, "I know that you and James used to go out in the middle of the night at school, but I never did! I was always asleep in my bed!" she crossed her arms indignantly.

"Please!" I scoffed at the same time James rolled his eyes at her, "You are talking to Sirius Black here, Lils! I know everything that happened in Hogwarts during our time there, especially midnight rendezvous with a certain Head Boy." I waggled my eyebrows at her and she blushed deeply while James hit me on the upside of my head, his cheeks slightly red.

"Only because you were the gossip king of Hogwarts." She snapped.

"True." I admitted, "But the point is, that Moony and I knew all about you and Prongs here sneaking out of your common room for a night-time excursion. Not to mention the fact that all the Marauders knew about you, Mary and Nikki sneaking out for a little midnight ice cream snack in sixth year. You did it all the time. Hell! Sometimes we even followed you!"

James nodded and smirked with me, but stopped suddenly when his wife turned on him. "James!" she almost yelled, "How could you do that! How come we never saw you?"

"Because we were under the Invisibility Cloak!" he yelled back as if it was the most obvious answer in the world, which it was.

"Why would you guys do that?!" Lily was still shouting.

"Jeez, calm down Lilyflower!" I said, "Don't get so worked up about it! It was like 10 years ago! And we didn't care that you snuck out. We actually were kind of annoyed that you girls had thought of it before we did."

She smiled proudly, but then said, "But why did you follow us?"

James sighed in exasperation, "Because! You still wouldn't go out with me even when you knew I was madly in love with you, Moony was dating Mary and he wanted to know why she snuck out at night, and Padfoot was all gaa-gaa for Nikki!"

"Really Siri?" Lily asked curiously, so easily sidetracked, "even in sixth year? I know that you eventually went out in seventh year, but if you liked her why didn't you ask her out then? She liked you for ages."

"I did! And we went out for about 3 months secretly before we even decided to tell you guys."

"What!" they both yelled.

"Oops, forgot you didn't know about that." I muttered, making a mental note to warn Nikki before Lily got to her. I shrugged. "We can talk about that later. Can I get back onto my story? I'm almost at the good bit!"

"Fine." They both muttered. (I swear they spend waaaaay too much time together.)

"Anyway, after I said the password, she let me in easily enough. Probably thought I was a teacher or something, it being dark, and she was still half asleep, so I got into the common room. When I walked in I had to just stop and stand there for a while before I could move again. Let me tell you guys, it was weird being back there, in that room. It looked _exactly _the same. Not a single thing out of place. We all had so many great memories there and it was my only real home as a kid. Apart from your place of course James." I sighed, smiling reminiscently, "it was the place we would do homework, hang out, where you two would have your shouting matches for the whole castle to hear,"—Lily stuck her tongue out at me for bringing that up—"then it was the place you two _finally_ got together" they both grinned, "and it was the place where all 7 of us used to sit and chat for ages in seventh year, when we were all together. Remember?" I sighed again, "Good times."

There was a long moment of silence as we all sat there remembering those seven years when the hardest thing we had to do was finish our homework and pass our exams, you could only find people being the victims of dark magic occasionally in the halls at night, (usually the Slytherins' doing) and generally the worst you got was cuts or giant boils. No one was being murdered or tortured back then. _And no one was betrayed and killed by their best friend_ I thought savagely. I shook my head sharply in order to bring myself back to reality.

"So after my little trip back to the past, I headed up to the boys dormitory's. Harry and Ron's was easy enough to find. It was our old room, Prongs. I saw Harry, sleeping peacefully, perfectly unaware that the person responsible for sending his parents to their deaths' was sleeping in the bed next to his. I crept up to Ron's bed, anger growing inside of me. I was finally going to get Wormtail. I got my trusty knife and slashed his curtains. I could see Wormtail sleeping on his pillow. Then Ron started to stir so I knew I had to do it fast. I got my knife and lent over, about to get that bloody rat, when Ron woke up. He obviously saw me because I was standing over him with a knife in my hand, and he started screaming. I don't blame him, I would have yelled if there was a man over my bed with a knife as well. Anyway his yelling woke up Wormtail and he saw me and scampered away. And I high-tailed it out of there as fast as I could. The whole tower would have woken up from the racket Ron was making so I sprinted away, changing into Padfoot on the way down." I took a deep, calming breath, I was getting stressed just reliving it. "Don't worry though! I got away safely."

James looked relieved that I was okay after that, but Lily glared at me murderously. I sunk further into my seat, the phrase _if looks could kill_ running through my mind. "Sirius!" she screamed at me, "how could you do that to the poor boy! He would have been almost scared to death at the sight of a man standing over him with a knife! If you were aiming at the rat on his pillow it would have certainly looked like you were aiming for him! Not to mention the fact that you were supposedly a mass murderer and probably the most wanted man in the country." When I nodded, confirming that she was, as usual, correct she continued to shout at me, green eyes blazing. "That would have been possibly the scariest thing for a person, let alone a 13 year-old boy! How could you?!" She took a breath to calm herself.

"Whoa, there Lils." I said, my hands up in front of me in surrender, and also to protect my stunningly handsome face, "you don't think I felt bad? After thinking about it, I felt horrible for Ron. I would have been horrified if it was me. But it's okay because when I apologized to him in the Shrieking Shack, he forgave me. I did say I was very sorry and I told him it was all a misunderstanding."

She nodded, looking slightly calmer and I felt safe enough to lower my hands from my face.

"Hey, Pads?" James said.

"Hey, Prongs."

"Did you just say the Shrieking Shack? With Ron?" he asked.

"It wasn't just Ron," I said, "Harry was there too, and his friend Hermione. And Moony, and Wormtail…and Snape as well," I remembered with distaste.

Both Lily and James opened their mouths to explode with questions, but I silenced them by covering their mouths with my hands. "I will answer everything when I continue with my story, and if I don't end up answering one, feel free to ask at the end." I said.

Once they both looked like they were going to be quiet, I took my hands away, and started with the next part of my story. "I had stolen some parchment and a quill from the Gryffindor Common room on my way out and I decided to write to Moony for the first time in 12 years, because I knew he would find out about me being in Hogwarts and above Ron's bed very soon. He was teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts at the time, and you will learn about that later" I added, when Lily and James both looked confused.

"I wrote to him and explained everything, hoping he would understand, that he would finally realise that _I _wasn't the friend that had betrayed him and the Marauders. I had to sign it as Padfoot because I knew that the Ministry would be checking the mail. After that I just had to wait. I was really angry that I still hadn't got Pettigrew but I tried to put it out of my mind. When word got around that 'Sirius Black, mass murderer' had broken into Hogwarts and almost killed a student, security got tighter then ever. Dumbledore got stricter on what time students had to be inside the castle and even more Dementors were sent in for security." Both Lily and James's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates and I realised that I had not told them about that. It would have been hilarious if I was talking about a different subject.

"Woops," I said, "Sorry, forgot to tell you about that. When school went back, Dumbledore somehow knew I was going to end up somewhere near Hogwarts after my breakout. I swear that man is unbelievable. So he reluctantly accepted the Ministry's offer to install several Dementors to roam around the school and stop me from coming in. Don't worry, they were only on the very edge of the school. Obviously it didn't work very well, because they couldn't sense me very easily as a dog." I couldn't resist adding smugly.

"So when I _still _managed to break in, security was increased. Even Dumbledore thought that I was the reason you two were dead. No one knew that I wasn't the dangerous one.

"Anyway, with the added Dementors and everything I had to stay and live in the Forbidden Forest. Just taking my time and wondering how the hell I was going to get Pettigrew. One evening, I saw Ron, Harry and Hermione running across the grounds near the Whomping Willow. It looked like Ron was chasing something. Then I realised it was Wormtail. I realised that this was my chance so I sprinted, still as Padfoot, towards the rat. Unfortunately, Ron had just got to him and managed to pick him up just before I got to him. I made a split-second decision—you know, the kind I should really think about, but don't—to still go for Wormtail even if Ron was holding him. I heard Harry yell "RON!" and I knew that they had seen me. Ron turned, but then I grabbed his leg—probably a bit to hard, because I heard a snap—with my mouth and dragged him into the tunnel underneath the Whomping Willow that leads straight into the Shrieking Shack.

"Ron was yelling in my ear, probably from the pain in his leg mostly, because I had broken it. Which I didn't mean to do" I hastily added, after seeing Lily's face, "When we got into the Shack, I let Ron go and turned back into human form again. When Ron saw me, he obviously realised who I was because he stared at me. Kind of annoying really since I wasn't _really_ a killer, he was still holding the real bloody murderer in his hand. We soon heard Harry and Hermione, coming down the tunnel, as I expected they would, loyal kids. When they got into the room, they ran straight to Ron. They couldn't see me because I was standing sort of behind the door. But when Harry asked 'where's the dog Ron?' Ron pointed at me, saying how I was Animagus.

"When Harry saw me, and realised who I was, he tried to grab me, but Hermione held him back saying, 'if you want to kill Harry, you'll have to kill us too' to me. I couldn't help but smile, at their loyalty to Harry, they were true friends.

Harry really tried to get at me, but Hermione held him and yelled at him to stop. Harry shouted back at her, about how I had killed you two, and then he broke free of her, and jumped at me, forgetting all about magic, I assume. You would have been proud the way that boy fights James. He got me down on the floor, then, remembering his wand, he pulled it out and pointed it at me.

'Are you going to kill me Harry?' I asked, actually getting a little worried, but I was also quite proud that my godson was so determined and brave.

"Just then, Remus burst in, and, seeing Harry's wand pointed at me, he disarmed him. Harry immediately got off me, assuming that because Remus was a teacher, that Remus would take care of me." I broke off, chuckling, "it's funny how basically the opposite happened. Moony pulled me off the floor and gave me a big hug. It was so good to see him again. Then Hermione shouted at us, 'I TRUSTED YOU!' she yelled at Remus, 'I kept your secret, and all this time you have been helping HIM!' she turned to Harry and Ron, telling them that Remus was a werewolf, she really is an incredibly smart girl. Reminds me so much of you, Lils," I added, grinning at her, and she smiled happily.

"But I was sick of just mucking around. I was agitated, I wanted to get it done, but the always practical Moony told me to wait.

'I did my waiting!' I shouted at him, 'twelve years of it! In Azkaban!'

'Harry has a right to know why.' He said and I knew he was right.

Harry interrupted then, saying that he knew why. He said that I betrayed his parents, and that I was the reason you were dead.

'No Harry, I thought so too, until Sirius explained it all,' Remus said, then he continued in telling basically the whole Animagus story, which, as you know James, takes a _long _time." James nodded sympathetically, "It was maddening waiting for him to finish the story. He was just getting to the end when we were rudely interrupted by none other then the sneaking intruder himself, Snape.

"He burst in and disarmed Remus. He yelled at him for helping 'an old friend into the castle'. He was going to get me and take me to the Dementors, and he almost got away with it too, if Harry hadn't disarmed him at the same time Hermione and Ron did. The spell was so powerful that he was thrown backwards and knocked out. I would have laughed in any other situation. Harry wanted to know more about Pettigrew. When Remus explained that he thought Pettigrew was also dead until Harry mentioned seeing him on the Marauders Map-which he had somehow managed to get his hands on by the way-" I added for James' sake, and he looked delighted with the fact that his son now has part of Marauder history.

"Harry said that the map must have been lying. 'The Map never lies!' I said, because we both know this is completely true Prongs, 'Pettigrew is alive! And he's in this room. Right there!' I pointed to Ron's rat. Harry wouldn't believe us unless we showed him that Peter was really an animagus. Once we got Ron to let go of him, Remus and I tried to get him to turn back, but he was scampering everywhere and it took us a few tries. But we eventually got him.

"Well, to say that all three of them looked shocked would be an understatement. Ron looked utterly gobsmacked that the rat that had been in his family for 12 years was actually a person. Anyway, Peter tried to sweet-talk everyone in the room into sparing him. And Remus and I had our wands pointed at him, about to kill him, when Harry said 'NO'

We both turned to look at him, we tried to tell him it was the right thing to do because he had betrayed you two, but Harry said, 'Don't kill him, we'll take him up to the castle. There the Dementors can have him.' I stopped letting them absorb all that.

After a long moment James asked, "Why? Why wouldn't Harry let you kill him? He bloody well deserved it." He muttered.

I smiled slightly, "I asked him, and he said that he didn't think his dad would want his two best friends to become killers." I watched as James and Lily's faces softened and they both smiled sadly. James looked so proud that Harry would be that noble; they both looked like they were going to cry.

"So? Did the Dementors get him?" he asked eventually.

I shook my head sadly, "When we eventually got out of the Shack, it was a full moon. I didn't remember until it was too late, and Remus hadn't had his potion. I had to transform into Padfoot to stop Moony attacking Harry and Ron and Hermione, and with everything going on, Peter turned into Wormtail again and took off." I sighed heavily, "He got away."

There were several minutes of silence. I thought that James would be angry or disappointed with the way my story ended, but for once, he surprised me by laughing. "Yeah," he chuckled, "Moony's furry little problem does have a tendency to make your hands full." I laughed with him, and even Lily cracked a smile.

"So Siri," she said when we had stopped laughing, "is that the end of the story?"

I grinned at her, and couldn't resist slipping in the cheesy remark, "No way, Lils. That was just the beginning."

* * *

**There you have it: Lily and James know the truth and are up-to-date with all Harry is doing. (or close enough to it.) I hope that this chappie was up to everyone's standards, tell me if it wasn't!! You know how to do that? REVIEW! If you loved it, tell me. How to do that? REVIEW! love you all!**


	9. Headmaster's Arrival

**You know the drill: I don't own Harry Potter**

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**8- Headmaster's Arrival**

**LILY **

What a whirlwind of a year it's been, but I have a funny feeling that it's only just the beginning. Having Sirius here, everything seems so much brighter and more lively. He even seems happier then he was on Earth with Nikki back in his life again. He now lives in a house next door to us, but he may as well be living in our house. He is over here _all the time_. And I love him, but it can get kind of annoying. The good thing is that James seems so much happier having his best friend with him again. I swear they are like two little kids, those two. They just never grew up. I should have thought about that before I married one of them.

I could even feel myself loosening up over the past year. It felt vaguely familiar and it took me ages to figure it out. Eventually, after sifting through a large amount of memories, it hit me: it was like in seventh year at Hogwarts, when I first started dating James. My friends and I started to hang around with the Marauders most of the time and I actually enjoyed doing it. Mary and Nikki were each dating Remus and Sirius respectively, at the time so we could all hang out together as a group without it being awkward. The more I hung out with James and his mates, the more I loosened up as a person, but then when James and I arrived up here, I started worrying about everything. Life back down on earth, and Harry especially and I began to tense up again. Anyway, my point is that with Sirius back with us, I was starting to slowly relax.

Over the past year, Sirius told us all that he knew about Harry, his life and his friends. He told us about the night that he died, about Harry's first and second year adventures at Hogwarts in detail, and all about Harry's friends.

"Ron is the loyal one," he told us one night when we were sitting around the fire at James and my place. "Harry sat in his carriage on the train on the way to Hogwarts in first year and they have been best friends ever since. He's quite a funny guy and is like Harry's second in command. He is the youngest boy of the Weasley family, so he gets lots of handed down books and robes. Draco Malfoy—Lucius's son—often teases him about that and Harry and Ron hate him, about as much as you and I hated Lucius, Prongs. Ron's twin brothers Fred and George are real funny blokes, great pranksters. Though not as good as the Marauders." He shared a smirk with James, "but they are like the Marauders of their generation. They opened a joke shop in Diagon Alley just this year after dropping out of Hogwarts.

"Hermione is the smart one. Ron and Harry saved her from an escaped mountain troll in the castle in their first year—I know, what a cool way to get a girl. Why didn't we think if of that?—anyway, the three have been inseparable since. She was quite uptight and very bookwormy at first, and her greatest nightmare was to get expelled, but the boys have loosened her up. She is a muggleborn and she gets a great deal of crap from Malfoy and his cronies about that as well. She is an incredibly bright witch, smartest in their grade by far and she works extra hard to achieve what she does. Just like you, Lily in the sense that she is muggleborn, yet so much smarter then most of the pure bloods in the grade. And don't tell Harry or Ron I told you this, but I reckon the boys would be useless with out her. They are quite smart themselves, but they would be nothing without her brain.

Then there's Neville, Luna, and Ginny–"

"Sirius!" I had interrupted, "What about girlfriends! Past and potential. Any future brides, perhaps?" I wanted to know everything about my son, seeing as he couldn't tell me himself of course, but I was a female after all, there was only so much we could take about 'just friends'. I wanted to get to the good stuff.

Sirius had grinned at me, "I was just about to go there. Jeez Lils, don't get your wand in a knot."

"I'm serious!" I'd complained, I had really wanted to know about these girls who would never be good enough for my son.

"No you're not. I am!" Sirius chuckled and James and I had rolled our eyes at the over-used joke. He hadn't used it since he had arrived and it was his favourite joke. I had been waiting for it and dreading it at the same time. "Okay, okay, let me think…" Sirius sighed, purposefully teasing me, "There was Cho Chang, who Harry liked for _ages, _but didn't get the guts to do anything with her until fifth year. She was in Ravenclaw, in the year above."

He had grinned when James burst out "Woooo! Go Harry! Go for the older birds!" I raised my eyebrows at him and because he is a smart man, he shut up.

"So? What happened?" I had urged.

Sirius laughed, "Nothing really happened. She was in Dumbledore's Army that year—the group that Harry led, which I told you about—and at Christmas time, when everyone had left, it was just her and Harry in the room, some mistletoe appeared and they had a bit of a snog." He grinned at us, James gave a wolf whistle and I beamed. "But nothing else really happened. I think they had one proper date and then they just sort of…fell apart. End of Harry's love life so far."

I felt my face fall in disappointment and Sirius had laughed at me. "Don't worry Lils, 'cause I haven't told you about Ginny yet."

"Ginny?" James had asked in surprise. "Ron's sister? The one that you told us about when Harry and Ron saved her from the Chamber of Secrets?"

Sirius patted James on the head like he was four years old, "Good work, Prongsie. You're catching on!" James smacked his hand away and they stuck out their tongues at each other. I sighed, _so mature._

"Hello! Back to Ginny please." I said, bringing their attention back to the very important subject of discussion, "Did she and Harry go out? For how long? Are they still dating? Is it–"

"Slow down there flower," Sirius cut in, "just listen. No, nothing has happened between Harry and Ginny just yet, but you mark my words, they will end up dating by the time Harry finishes at Hogwarts and between you and me, I think that maybe, _just maybe, _ they could end up getting married."

I hadn't been able to keep in my squeal of delight at this news, focusing on the potential bride for my boy, rather then the unlikeliness that anything Sirius predicts will come true. The men laughed at me, shaking their heads.

"Yep," Sirius had gone on, "I think that she is perfect for him. She knows what makes him laugh, she is a very smart witch when she puts her mind to it and she can stop Harry when he gets carried away in his 'Saving the World' schemes. She has a really fiery personality, like you Lils, but Harry seems to be able to keep that in check." He chuckled before adding, "She had hair like yours too Lily, all the Weasley's do, but it seems to match her personality very well."

"Hmmm… seems all the Potter men are quite fond of red heads." I mused.

James had grinned and hugged me. "Sure are."

Sirius laughed at us, then said, "The funny thing is, Ginny had a huge crush on Harry for ages, she never used to be able to talk when he was in the room. But she had seemed to loosen up a bit over the past year and I think that, because of that, Harry will begin to take more notice. Don't you love irony?"

I had not been able to stop smiling throughout the entire conversation, and I really hoped Sirius was right. Harry needed a bit of love and happiness in his life.

…………………………………….

The four of us were sitting around Sirius's kitchen table, James, Nikki and I listening with good humour to Sirius telling us about his doomed adventures at the Ministry _again. _ "So, the Order and I had just arrived and we could see Harry and his mates duelling with the Death Eaters. Harry was fighting with Lucius Malfoy, so I came up and said in a manly voice 'step away from my godson.' Then I punched him in the face, which really was the best feeling." He grinned haughtily, his grey eyes glistening, reliving the memories, "Then another Death Eater came and Harry and I started duelling them both. Harry managed to disarm Malfoy at the same time I stunned my guy, and I said, 'Nice one, James,' because he did it just the way you used to do it Prongs, then I stood beside him and–" he was cut off by a loud _beep_ that echoed around the room.

We all looked up at each other, then stood up together and walked into the living room as a group. When I looked at the screen, it took me a long second to register the name that was up on the screen. **ALBUS DUMBLEDORE **was lit up in vibrant purple, tears came to my eyes reflexively as yelled out, "No!"

I thought about the fact that the only man who had been my mentor and inspiration for my entire life, probably the most powerful and talented wizard I would ever meet, the only person that Voldemort feared, and the man who I could really only credit for getting me and James together, was gone. It hurt even more to know that he was no longer on earth, helping, guiding and caring for Harry like I knew he had been for 15 years.

We sat there in stunned silence as my tears overflowed. Finally, Sirius spoke in an oddly mature and aged voice, "Shall we go see him?"

We all nodded silently and we got up and headed for the door. That was when James seemed to notice my tears. "Hey," he said softly, wiping away the tears from my cheeks gently, "you okay?"

I sniffed and nodded, "It's just that," I said hoarsely, "it's hard to wrap my mind around the fact that possibly the greatest wizard in the world, is no longer on Earth, you know?" he sighed and nodded, putting his arm around my waist and pulling me closer as we walked. "Now he's not around to take care of Harry and help him through whatever challenges he has ahead." I continued, "He was the only man that Voldemort feared and now, with him up here, instead of down there, Voldemort has nothing to fear. He can just go around doing what ever he wants because no one can stop him because he fears no one and-and-" my voice was getting higher and more strained with agitation as I worried about everything.

"Sshhh," James whispered, putting a finger to my lips, knowing when I need to calm down. "It's going to be fine. Harry is practically a man now anyway, I'm sure he can cope without some super old wanker hanging around. Oops, I mean wizard." He smiled cheekily, and I laughed, marvelling at how quickly he could make me feel better. "Harry will be fine, I'm sure ol' Dumbly has a plan for him anyway."

I sighed and nodded, calmed down slightly. James smiled at me and then we went to catch up to Sirius and Nikki, who were now standing at the back of a fairly large crowd surrounding, what I'm assuming was Dumbledore. Eventually, I managed to see through a break in the people, a man standing in the middle of the crowd and at first I didn't recognise him. He looked about 50 years younger, almost all of the lines on his face were gone. And instead of the long silver beard that I was used to, he had short auburn hair and a small, matching beard. The only things that made me realise it was actually Dumbledore were the half-moon spectacles perched on his no longer-crooked nose, and the bright blue eyes, which always had a familiar sparkle. Dumbledore was making his way slowly though all the people who had come to see him, asking them how they are going, and shaking their hands. It suddenly occurred to me that Dumbledore was such a well known and respected man, that practically everyone in the Wizarding World would want to come out and meet him, thank him and question him. This was going to take a while.

We stood there for what seemed like forever, waiting until most of the crowd had faded away. Sirius was starting to get impatient, tapping his foot against the ground in a fast beat. Eventually the crowd diminished enough for Dumbledore to catch a glimpse of me and James, though he still couldn't see Sirius or Nikki. The moment he saw us, I noticed his face soften and the glimmer in his eyes faded slightly. As I looked into his eyes, I had the peculiar, yet not totally unfamiliar sensation that his eyes could somehow see right through me like and X-ray, reading my mind.

Then he stepped toward us, and reached out to take my hand. "Lily and James Potter." He said sadly, "Let me just say, that even though it has been such a long time, I was so, so sorry to hear about your deaths. It broke my heart when I heard the news. The wizarding world misses you. Harry especially."

We both nodded, and I really appreciated that Dumbledore would say this to us, it meant a lot to me, and I know it did to James as well. "Thank you very much Professor." James said, as if speaking my thoughts aloud.

Dumbledore chuckled, "None of this 'professor' stuff please, James. I have not been your teacher for over 20 years and I am not headmaster any more. Please call me Albus, or just Dumbledore is fine."

We smiled at him. "Of course, Albus." I said, and it felt very strange to be addressing him by his first name after all this time.

"Now, I have so much to tell you both. Harry has a very trying time ahead and I will fill you in on all the details. And Sirius!" he exclaimed as if suddenly remembering Sirius was up here. "Where is Sirius? I thought he would be with you."

"I am!" Sirius yelled, finally emerging, "at your service, Dumbledore, sir!" he stood like a soldier and saluted.

Dumbledore laughed, "Sirius Black! Don't you look well. A lot better then last time I saw you, I daresay. And you are with Miss Williamson! It's good to see you again, my dear." He beamed at her and she grinned back. Dumbledore glanced between the two of them with obvious glee when Nikki took Sirius's hand. "Ah, I assume that you have both continued with your relationship as if it was not tragically interrupted? Harry misses his godfather terribly, you were a big part of his life." He added quietly to Sirius.

He smiled slightly, "Only for the two years I was in it. Before that I was the reason these two were dead to him."

"I'll bet Harry misses us more!" James said indignantly, "We are his parents! And we were a bigger part of his life then you were."

"No you weren't! You were only part of his life for one measly year, whereas I was in there for two. So technically, I had a bigger part."

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Did too! Harry knew his godfather better then he knew his parents." Sirius smirked at us, "should count himself lucky. I am a lot more interesting then you two. Bunch of boring old sods. He got the good end of the stick, even if he doesn't know it."

Dumbledore laughed with Nikki, his blue eyes sparkling again. I just glared at Sirius. I knew he was joking and I was being a bit irrational, but I couldn't help take offence. He just laughed at me, putting his arm around my shoulders, "I'm just kidding Lilyflower. Do you think I would waste my precious time hanging around with you both if really thought you were that boring?"

"Gee, that makes us feel so much better Pads," James said.

"No problem mate." Sirius answered with an impish smile, poking him in the ribs. "It's what I'm here for."

I rolled my eyes at them, and turned back to Dumbledore as James got out his wand and hung the unsuspecting Sirius upside down and Nikki roared with laughter. He turned to me, while still laughing slightly at my husband and his best friend. "Is it alright if I pay you a visit maybe tomorrow night? At about 6 o'clock? As I mentioned before, I have a lot to tell you all."

"Yes of course, Dumbledore. That's fine." I said, "We look forward to your visit."

He frowned slightly at that, is if my comment had offended him. "Not all I am going to tell you is good news, Lily," he said solemnly, "you will not like some of it, because what Harry has to do now is very dangerous, but he has no choice in the matter."

"What does he have to do?" I asked curiously.

"Now, now," he said, smiling again, "that can wait until tomorrow night. I do have some good things to tell you too. I will see you then." And before I could open my mouth to say goodbye, he had turned and swept back to continue greeting the rest of the crowd, if you could call it a crowd now. There were only a few stray people left, and one group of people huddled together in the back, tears pouring down their faces. There was a man with auburn hair like Dumbledore, a woman with her dark hair done up in a tight bun and a young girl with blonde hair, clutching onto what the older woman's hand while tears poured down her cheeks.

As I watched, the girl ran to Dumbledore, hugging him tightly and I saw him murmuring to her, and even from where I was standing, I could see tears falling thick and fast down his cheeks. Maybe he was finally with his family.

I was smiling as I turned and headed back to James and Sirius, who were now just talking and joking around, Sirius standing upright on two feet. _Not all I am going to tell you is good news. _ He has said, _what Harry has to do now is very dangerous, but he has no choice. _ What could that possibly mean? Ugh, I always hated it when Dumbledore spoke in riddles.

I had reached the boys by now and after I had managed to get their attention by grabbing their ears. After their pained yelling died down, I told them what Dumbledore said and when he was coming over to tell us what he knew.

"Harry has no choice in what he has to do?" Sirius repeated in a confused voice after I let them go, rubbing his red ear. "Why in Merlin's name would he have no choice?"

"I don't know," I sighed, "but I don't want to think about it until tomorrow night. Let's go home." Harry has to do something incredibly dangerous, yet he has no say in the matter. After thinking about that, only one thought kept repeating itself in my head. And looking at James, Nikki and Sirius, I suddenly had a moment of rare insight, and I could see they were thinking exactly the same thing. _Could it really be that bad?_

_

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**Sorry it's a bit of a cliffie, but not really coz you all know what Dumblydore's going to tell them. Unless you haven't read the books...in that case, you really wouldn't get any of this story, but keep reading anyway!!  
OMG so the number of reviews is climbing and it's so exciting!! I want to get to 250 by the next chapter. WE CAN DO IT!! just press the button...please?**


	10. Not the Best News

**A/N: Firstly, i want to say sorry to everyone for the false alarm update! I did upload this chapter but ff was being a pain and didn't seem to want to put it up for me so i had to wait a few days. Sorry again!  
Secondly...250 REVIEWS!!! YAY!! we did it! THANK YOU SO MUCH! i was so happy to see that magical number, i totally made my day! I love you all, you wonderful readers/reviewers, you!!**

**Okay, that's enough of me ranting. Grab your popcorn, this is a long one!**

**DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN HP! **

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**9- Not the Best News**

**LILY**

The next day, at 6 on the dot, the doorbell rang. James, Sirius and I were all sitting in the lounge room, anxiously awaiting Dumbledore's arrival. Nikki had really wanted to come too, but she had promised she would have dinner with her parents, and they would kill her if she backed out if it. I promised to tell her everything when it was over.

When I heard the doorbell, I was suddenly so nervous that my throat closed up and I couldn't breathe, let alone speak. James heard my breathing stop and squeezed my hand, giving me a reassuring smile before he got up to answer the door.

Dumbledore's face did nothing to calm my nerves when he had greeted us and sat down. It was grave, almost emotionless and his eyes seemed duller, not as piercing. He looked at each of us slowly before speaking.

"Now I am assuming that Lily has told you about how this is not a very happy story, and I will tell you everything I know about Harry and the task I have set him on. After that–"

"Wait, sorry Dumbledore," James interrupted, "_You _gave him this task? I thought you told Lily yesterday that he had no choice? Surely you would have let him decide if he could do it or not."

Dumbledore sighed, "It is very complicated James. Harry can very easily choose not to complete his task, but then it would mean that Voldemort would continue to terrorize the entire world, and no one wants that. Especially Harry. I know that he will finish what I started because he can't stand hearing about and watching people getting killed and hurt, when he knows that he can stop it. And really, he doesn't have a choice because he is the only person that can do it."

"So he really is the only person that can defeat Voldemort?" Sirius asked.

Dumbledore nodded gravely. We all opened our mouths to ask questions but he held up his hands. "Please, you can ask questions later if I haven't already answered them. I will tell you everything, I just have to figure out where to begin." He paused, interlocking his fingers as he thought. Then he looked up. "Sirius?" he asked, "I am assuming you told them about the night in the Ministry?"

"Of course." Sirius said, looking surprised.

"But you don't know why Lord Voldemort would have lured Harry there in the first place do you?"

"Harry was lured there by Voldemort?!" Sirius exploded.

"Well you obviously don't know about that part either." Dumbledore said, chuckling slightly. "So that's where I will start. Harry discovered during his fifth year, that his mind was somehow connected to Voldemort's. Every now and then, he would get dreams, or nightmares, when he would travel into Voldemort's mind or even the minds of his followers. Do you know about his dream as Nagini, Voldemort's snake that attacked Arthur Weasley?" he asked. We nodded, and I couldn't help the shiver that slid down my spine. I had been horrified to learn about Harry's trip into the snake's mind when Sirius had told us.

"After that, I got Professor Snape to start teaching Harry Occlumens, or trying at least. Harry wasn't very good at it at all and after a while, Severus gave up, not that Harry minded. In fact, I'm pretty sure that Harry hated the lessons. He hated having Severus invade his mind, it was even worse because Snape was his least favourite teacher."

"Why did Snape have to do it?" James suddenly burst out, "why couldn't you teach him?"

Dumbledore smiled, "I was very busy James trying to keep Voldemort from Harry as it was, and believe it or not, Severus was and always has been very talented at Occlumens. After the lessons finished, Harry didn't seem to be having any trouble with the connection between him and Lord Voldemort, that was, until the day you died, Sirius.

"That afternoon, I believe it was during his History of Magic OWL Examination, that Harry had a dream–"

James snorted and Sirius laughed, "History of Magic _was_ pretty boring." He muttered, and James nodded, snickering. I glared at them until they stopped. I had to admit, I was not very happy that Harry had fallen asleep in one of he OWL's—even if it was History of Magic, which, I had to agree with Sirius, was pretty boring.

Dumbledore smiled, but continued on, "—a dream about you, Sirius."

"Huh?" was the intelligent response.

"He dreamt that he was in Voldemort's mind again, and Voldemort had you captured. He was torturing you, trying to get you to give him something. Harry realised that it was in the Department of Mysteries in the Ministry of Magic. So, being the noble and brave boy Harry is, he and his friends took off to save you."

"But I wasn't there!" Sirius almost shouted, "I was still at Grimmauld Place."

"Exactly, Sirius, exactly! It was a trap that Voldemort had set for Harry because he had somehow discovered the connection and was using it to trick Harry to him. He knew that if he made Harry believe he was hurting you, Harry would come to try and save you. But he wasn't going to kill him, Voldemort needed Harry"

"But why would Voldemort need Harry?" I couldn't help but ask.

Dumbledore ignored my question, and asked another one. "Do any of you know what is inside the Department of Mysteries?"

I gasped, as I remembered, "Prophecies!"

"That's right, Lily. And the only people who could retrieve a prophecy, the only ones who could pick it up off its shelf are the–"

"People about whom they are made!" I finished for Dumbledore.

"What?" James asked, clearly confused.

"The only way a prophecy can be taken from its shelf, is if the person it's about takes it themselves." I explained to him, "Wait! Does that mean that there was a prophecy about Harry?"

Dumbledore nodded enthusiastically. "That's right Lily! My, my you are a smart witch. Yes, there is a prophecy about Harry, but it is also about Voldemort. That's why Voldemort wanted Harry, because he wanted to know what the prophecy said, and only Harry could get it for him. But when Harry realised you weren't there Sirius, he and his friends fought against the Death Eaters and you know the rest. Unfortunately for Voldemort, the prophecy was destroyed in the fight."

"So no one knows what the prophecy says?" I asked slightly disappointed.

Dumbledore chuckled, "I never said that. I just said that _Voldemort _never found out what it said. When Harry got back to school that night, he asked me about it, naturally, and I told him what it said."

Sirius and I gasped and James managed to get out, "_You _know what it says?"

"Of course," Dumbledore smiled, though it was slightly off, "I was the one it was told to." He continued over us before we could say anything, "It went like this, _'the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches…born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies…and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not…and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives…'"_

There was silence. I felt like I couldn't breathe again_. That explains why Voldemort killed James and me. But, no, Harry wasn't going to have to kill Voldemort or die at his hand. It doesn't mean…it couldn't mean_-

"Dumbledore?" James asked quietly, his voice sounding oddly choked, "Does that mean that Harry…will Harry have to–"

"Kill Voldemort or the other way around?" Dumbledore said gravely, "yes, I'm afraid it does." I saw Sirius put his head in his hands and James's eyes close in pain before the room went all blurry. A strange sound came out of my mouth. It sounded like a cross between a sob, a cry of pain, and a moan, all at the same time. The tears overflowed and poured down my cheeks. I felt James's strong arms wrap around me, pulling me into his lap and I even felt a few drips fall on my hair.

"I am so sorry," Dumbledore said, "I know this is incredibly hard for you to hear. As you can imagine, it was very hard for him to hear as well. But he took the new information very well. He just took it in, not a single seed of doubt in his mind, I'm sure."

I took deep breaths, trying to contain my sobs. I knew that Dumbledore was right, and I was comforted in the thought that if Harry could take the information and just get it done, then I could live with it. I knew he could do it. He is my son for heavens sake!

"Keep going Dumbledore." I said, "what happened after you told him?"

"Well, I'm afraid it was the end of term. There wasn't much I could do apart from wish him a good holiday."

"Not bloody likely," Sirius snorted, raising his head from his hands. His eyes looked slightly red around the rims. "He had just found out that if he doesn't kill Voldemort, Voldemort will kill him! Not to mention the fact that I had just been killed! That should have ruined his holiday by itself!"

Dumbledore smiled, "Yes, he didn't have the best holiday in the beginning. He was devastated about your death Sirius, and you're right that he was worried about the prophecy. But about half-way through the holidays, I came and picked him up from the Dursleys and he went and stayed at the Weasleys for the rest of the summer. We did have a short stop on the way of course." He added after a second thought.

"Why did you pick him up?" I asked curiously at the same time the James said, "Where did you stop off?"

"I picked him up," Dumbledore chuckled, answering my question first, "because I wanted to tell him I was going to give him private lessons during the school year. And I also needed his assistance in getting an old colleague and friend of mine to come back to Hogwarts to teach again for the year."

Again, everyone asked a question at once. "You gave him private lessons?"

"Who did you need to come back and teach?"

"Why did you need Harry's help?"

"I will answer all your questions if you let me talk," Dumbledore said, laughing. We all fell silent. Sirius pretended to lock his lips and threw the imaginary key over his shoulder.

"As you are probably aware, for some time now, we have had to get new Defence Against the Dark Arts teachers at Hogwarts every year. The last teacher, Dolores Umbridge was not really a teacher, she was a Ministry worker who was sacked for good reasons at the end of the year. So for Harry's sixth year, I gave Severus the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher job and–"

"But-but Dumbledore!" Sirius erupted, obviously forgetting about his locked lips, "the scoundrel had been after that job for years! He doesn't deserve it, the bloody Death Eater—"

"Sirius!" I yelled, shocked that he would say that, even about Snape.

"But it's _Snivellus_ Lily! You know how James and I hate him, not to mention Harry!"

"Still! You really shouldn't say that about anyone Siri! It's really horrible."

He glared at me and I glared back until Dumbledore started speaking again. "I know Severus had been after it for years, Sirius, that's why I gave it to him. And also because I couldn't find anyone else who wanted to take the job. Most people are afraid of it because they think it's cursed. So, with Severus as the Defence Teacher, that meant I had to find a new Potions teacher. And that's where Harry came in.

"I had a friend who had once taught at Hogwarts. You three should remember him. Horace had retired many years ago but I knew that with the right motivation, he would gladly take the job back again. I knew how much he enjoyed it, even though it was many years ago. He taught you three, but he was known as Professor Slughorn to you."

The boys burst into laughter at the sound of his name and I couldn't help but smile just a bit. Slughorn had always loved the three of us. I was his favourite student because I had a 'natural talent' as he called it. James came directly from pure blood and his family was very well known, so of course Slughorn took interest in him. James wasn't to bad at the potions making aspect of it as well, it was just most of the time he was mucking around with Sirius, who Slughorn loved mostly because of his charm and cheekiness. Professor Slughorn loved a good joke as long as he wasn't the victim of it, and he enjoyed James and Sirius occasionally torturing the Slytherins in potions, even if it was his own house. Sirius had always had a way with the teachers. He had a certain charm that none of them could resist. Except McGonagall, who just gave him detentions.

Once James and Sirius had calmed down, Dumbledore told them about his trip to Slughorn's house with Harry and how Slughorn had agreed to teach after his talk with Harry. Dumbledore told us how Harry had then gone to stay with the Weasleys and spent his time flying around playing Quidditch and talking with Ron and Hermione.

"When school went back," Dumbledore continued, "I managed to get a few private lessons with Harry, even though he, Ron and Hermione were very busy. They were getting more and more homework, Ron and Hermione were prefects and Harry had a Quidditch Team to trial, so it-"

"Whoa, whoa," James butted in, "Harry had the Quidditch Team to run? He was Quidditch Captain?" When Dumbledore smiled and nodded, James's hazel eyes warmed and a proud grin spread across his face. "That's my boy!" he yelled, "Just like his dad! I'm sure he did a great job too! Bet they won the Cup didn't they? Harry leading Gryffindor to victory." He was beaming and I couldn't help but smile with him, though I also felt sad. I knew that this was probably James's proudest moment as a father, and it made me sad that he had to find out almost a year late, and not from Harry. I tried not to let it get to me though.

Sirius was also grinning like a madman, "Knew it!" he said, "I knew he would get it. I told him, I said to him he would be Captain. And I was right."

"Yes, Harry got Gryffindor Quidditch Captain," Dumbledore said, "and he deserved it. Helping Gryffindor to victory every year he was on the team since first year, is quite an achievement." He paused to check James and Sirius were actually listening until he started again, "My lessons with Harry were only about once a month, and I would get one of the other students to give him a note from me saying the time on what day. I didn't teach him anything he could learn in class. It was much more important. Time was running out for me. I was getting older and I was sick. I knew I would die soon so I had to teach Harry all that I knew. No, no. Questions later." He added, as we gave all the signs of interrupting. "I taught him about Voldemort, about his life as a child, his mother, and what he was like as a student at Hogwarts. I told Harry that he needed to know about Voldemort's past to really understand him and his motives. But there was one topic in particular that Harry needed to know about. They were absolutely essential to know about if Harry was ever planning to kill Voldemort, though they are almost the darkest magic known. Horcruxes."

"Horcruxes?" I blurted out before I could stop myself, "But that's awful magic! Why would you teach Harry such a thing? Why would it be essential for killing Voldemort unless he…" I could feel everyone watching my face as it sank in. I tried to swallow. "Did he make one?" I was so horrified, I couldn't get my voice any louder then a whisper.

Dumbledore nodded, "Not one, but many." And I was about to ask how many when Sirius's exasperated voice cut me off.

"Will somebody _please _explain what about this Horcrux or whatever it is?"

James nodded in agreement, clearly also confused.

I took a deep breath, wanting to get it out as fast as I could, "A Horcrux is essentially a piece of soul that someone splits from their own soul. They put it in an item, a treasure or something along those lines, and if someone tries to kill them, they will not really be able to die, because their piece of soul that they broke off will still be untouched."

They looked at me as if I was speaking another language. There was a long moment of silence. "So let me get this straight," James said slowly, "You would rip off a piece of your soul, and put in say…a box, and then you couldn't die?"

"In theory, yes." I said. "For example, if I stabbed you with a kitchen knife right now, it would hurt your body but it wouldn't touch your soul, yeah?"

"Uhh, Lils?" Sirius said, going over the top of whatever James was going to say, "You realise that we are already dead right? We are just our souls already. Our real bodies are down on earth."

"Exactly Sirius!" I exclaimed, "Our bodies are dead on earth, but our souls are up here. So your soul really stays untouched when you die. If you have two pieces of soul, one in your body and one in an object, you would in theory have _two_ souls, so you could keep on living until you got another body. Get it?"

I took from their horrified and slightly disgusted faces that they understood.

"Very well explained," Dumbledore said to me, "and now we are all on the same page. I told Harry that while he was at school Voldemort discovered the theory on Horcruxes and unlike all four of us, he found the idea very appealing. It would make him like a cat with nine lives. He could really be invincible. When he was older and knew the magic, he made himself not one, but several Horcruxes, putting them in some of his most treasured possessions: a locket that once belonged to Salazar Slytherin, a ring that had belonged to his grandfather, an old diary that he used as a child and his snake Nagini, who he always kept close. Then there were about three more but I don't know for sure what they are. I have a few guesses though."

There was a stunned silence until I managed to choke out, "Seven? I didn't even think that was possible" I felt a particularly unpleasant wash of nausea over my body.

Dumbledore nodded, "He wanted to make sure he survived, although one of them, he didn't mean to make and it almost killed him. He hid six items in different hiding spots. It was lucky for Harry that two of the Horcruxes had already been destroyed. Earlier in the year I had discovered the ring and I managed to destroy it with Gryffindor's sword because that contains Basalisk venom, one of the only two things that can destroy Horcruxes. The other is Fiend Fire." He added, seeing our confused faces. "Harry had unknowingly at the time destroyed another of Voldemort's Horcruxes. The diary, when he was in second year."

Sirius gasped, "The one that Ginny wrote in and ended up with her in the Chamber of Secrets?"

"The very same. Harry destroyed it with a Basilisk fang from the Basilisk he killed. That was how it could possess Ginny. When a Horcrux has a safe…home, it can flitter in and out, possessing any living thing close to it. When Ginny poured her thoughts and feelings into that diary, it only made the little bit of soul stronger, so it could control Ginny more."

"And this is what you taught Harry in your lessons?" James asked, sounding slightly sick.

"Yes," Dumbledore said, "I told him all about the Horcruxes that I knew. Some of them I wasn't sure about the other three but I had hunches. The later the year got, the harder it was to get lessons in. I was busy and Harry was busy. He had classes, and homework, his friends were fighting so he had to run between them, and a Quidditch Team to run. Then he got himself detentions with Snape until the end of term, Gryffindor won the Quidditch Cup, he got himself a girlfriend…" his eyes sparkled as he said this, "everyone was busy."

There was a beat of silence, then, "I swear I hate Snivelly."

"He won the Cup? Woooo! I knew he would. I knew he would do it!"

"He got a _girlfriend? _ Who? When? How?_ Who?_"

Dumbledore laughed and waited until we had all calmed down. "Professor Snape gave Harry detentions until the end of term, because Harry had used a horribly violent spell on Draco Malfoy. He said it was self-defence because Malfoy was about to use and Unforgivable Curse on him, and he had no idea what the spell would do. It gave Malfoy gashes on his face and chest, making him bleed profusely."

That sounded vaguely familiar. I knew I had seen that spell somewhere, a long time ago. I didn't realise that James and Sirius were both thinking the same thing, yet they both knew the answer. _"Snivellus." _ They both hissed, absolute hatred in their voices.

Oh, so that's where I had seen it! Snape had used it on James once right in front of me in seventh year. It was a horrible spell, I felt sick just thinking about it. That would explain why Snape gave Harry so many detentions. But how did Harry get the spell?

Sirius and James were now yelling about how Snape shouldn't have given Harry so many detentions, seeing as it was his spell, and Dumbledore good-naturedly explained that that was exactly why he had been so mad. "The number of detentions didn't bother Harry," Dumbledore was saying, "it was the fact that the first detention happened to be on the day of the Quidditch Final."

"_WHAT?" _ Sirius and James yelled at the same time.

"I know," Dumbledore said, "It was a bit harsh, and Harry was devastated that he couldn't play, but just think, if he hadn't kept Harry in for the game, Harry might never have had the guts to get his girlfriend."

"Really?" I said excitedly, "tell me everything! What happened? Who is she?"

Dumbledore, James and Sirius all laughed. "Lily, you are _such_ a girl." Sirius teased.

I rolled my eyes at him, "Was that supposed to be an insult Siri?"

"I wasn't there," Dumbledore cut in, "But I heard the gossip the next day. It was all the whole school student body would talk about for a week. From what I heard, after Severus let Harry out of his detention, he went straight to the Gryffindor common room, not knowing who had won because the game was over. When he got inside, they were partying because Gryffindor had one. Apparently what happened was, Ginny Weasley ran up to Harry to give him a hug and Harry just kissed her."

"In front of all of Gryffindor?" I asked, thoroughly impressed. I bet Harry liked her for ages, just never had the guts. I beamed, I couldn't help it. I was so happy for him, he finally got the girl that, according to Sirius, was perfect for him. I suddenly really wanted to meet her.

James and Sirius had jumped up and were yelling "YES! GO HARRY! GO HARRY!" and doing their Marauders victory dance that they had made up in second year and that they somehow, never forgot. I always wondered if they practiced it privately in their dorm. I just laughed at them.

"See?!" Sirius said breathlessly, as he and James both dropped back onto the couches, after about 10 minutes of non-stop Marauder dancing. "I told you they were meant for each other. I knew they would get together, and I was RIGHT! Now we just have to find out about Moony and Tonks…" he started stroking an imaginary beard, thinking. I snorted at him. S_ometimes I can't believe I am friends with this loony._

"So Dumbledore, what happened next?" James asked, clearly enjoying himself immensely.

Dumbledore smiled, "Well I can truthfully say that I don't think I have ever seen Harry so happy. Everyone was gossiping about him, but for once, he really couldn't care less because what they were talking about made him really happy, not sad. But Ginny was in fifth year and she had OWL's to study for so their time together got restricted. It was good for Harry that Ron and Hermione were speaking again, otherwise he would have had a real problem on his hands."

"Oh, that's right! You mentioned something about that. What happened?" I said.

Dumbledore laughed, "I don't know the whole story but I think it was something about how Ron started going out with a girl called Lavender Brown in Gryffindor and Hermione really didn't like it."

Sirius burst out laughing. "I knew it would be something like that. Hermione, being the smart one, has realised that she likes Ron more then a friend, but Ron is too daft to realise that he is in love with Hermione, so he goes out with someone else and she gets jealous! Ha ha!"

I giggled, it was just like a muggle soap opera. James sighed and shook his head, a small smile on his face, "Poor Harry. Caught in the middle." He said.

"I'm sure he hated it," Sirius said, still chuckling, "Ron would probably always be with Lavender and Hermione would probably be in the library sulking. That would have been no fun at all."

"But they worked it out alright?" I asked Dumbledore, "He broke up with this Lavender and Hermione forgave him right?

"I believe it went something like that," Dumbledore said, "after a few shouting matches in the common room, that Harry had to referee."

"Jeez, doesn't that take me back." Sirius sniggered. James and I glared at him. I had always hated it when James and I fought in the common room when we were at Hogwarts. Only we discovered later that we just annoyed each other so much, we didn't stop to get to know the other person better. We could have saved ourselves a lot of time, not to mention voice. And Gryffindor students' eardrums.

Dumbledore interrupted my reverie. "It was towards the end of the year when I found another Horcrux. It was I a cave that Voldemort used to visit when he was a child when he went on trips with the orphanage. Yes, he was an orphan, like Harry. Only he didn't have relatives to go to." The fact that Lord Voldemort was an orphan shocked me. It would be hard for any child to grow up without a mother or father. He would have had no way to know he had any magic powers. Though I knew what that felt like. I concentrated on Dumbledore again.

"I went and got Harry as soon as I could. He wasn't scared at all and that impressed me. He was just really angry at me at the time."

"Why?" I blurted out.

Dumbledore sighed, "Well, that's another story entirely. And I will tell you all some time, but I'm afraid I am rather tired so I will finish my story and then be off." He paused taking in a deep breath. "Once I mentioned to Harry I had found the Horcrux he agreed to come with me. He promised me that he would do everything I told him to do. That included leaving me and running if I told him to."

"Bet he wouldn't have agreed to that too easily," Sirius muttered.

"No, he didn't at first, but he reluctantly gave in eventually." Dumbledore said, "I took him to the cave. Voldemort had taken precautions but I knew Voldemort and his tricks. I found the hidden boat and discovered how to get through the cave. We travelled out in the little dinghy he had provided and we got to the basin in the centre. I had expected all of this and I had suspicions of what was coming. On the way to the centre Harry noticed that there were Inferi in the water, and I know that scared him slightly, but he was very brave." I shuddered, I had never seen Inferi and I never planned to. How horrible for my boy. Dumbledore continued in a grave voice. "In the basin was a potion and I knew that beneath the potion lay the Horcrux. I just had to drink the potion to get to it." He grimaced slightly at me when he heard my gasp of shock. James and Sirius just stared at him, horrified.

"The potion was worse then I feared. It brought back horrible times in my past, and caused extreme pain mentally and physically. I do remember screaming several times, and all the while I could hear Harry trying to comfort me while making me drink more potion, like I had told him to. I managed to drink all the potion and we got back onto the boat once Harry had retrieved the Horcrux. It was Slytherin's locket. We did have a little encounter with the Inferi, but luckily, I knew how to handle them. Harry was very brave throughout it all and I was not surprised when we managed to get out easily."

He stopped and shuddered, relieving an obviously unpleasant memory. "Then what happened?" I asked softly.

"The moment we got back to Hogsmeade, I knew something was wrong," he said quietly, "When I looked up at the school I realised. The Dark Mark had been set over the Astronomy Tower. The Death Eaters had attacked." He ignored our gasps of shock. "I was suddenly so aware that Harry and I had been gone for hours. I didn't know who had been killed or hurt but I knew I had to get there quickly to save my school. I summoned brooms from The Three Broomsticks and Harry immediately flew up to the Astronomy Tower. Seeing that there was no one up there, Harry went straight to the door, but then we both heard footsteps running up the stairs. That was when I realised it was all a trap.

"All my life, my mind had always been good at processing and thinking things through very quickly, and even as an old man, my brain had still retained that skill. In only those few seconds when the running footsteps echoed up the stairs, I thought about how Harry had been trying to convince me all year that Draco Malfoy was planning something. Harry had known that somehow the Death Eaters would get into the school, and yet, I had disregarded him. It was one of the very rare times when I realised that I had been wrong. It was a trap, and there was no way out."

"Who was it?" Sirius cut in, "Who was it, running up the stairs? What happened?"

Dumbledore smiled at him, "If you listen, you will find out." Sirius shut up, (only Dumbledore and McGonagall could make him do that) and the story continued. "Harry was still under the Invisibility Cloak. Your cloak James, and I must say that I'm sure Harry has found that quite as useful as you did when you were at school. I'm pretty sure that Harry has had a few adventures with that Cloak. Maybe breaking a few rules."

James grinned and sighed wistfully, "That takes me back." Sirius laughed and nodded. I don't even want to think about all the rules they had broken while at school. It never ceases to amaze me how they got away with it all. I suppose the Cloak did help, but I didn't know about that until after school of course.

Dumbledore got back on track. "No one knew Harry had been with me all evening, and I didn't want him to get into a situation he couldn't handle, so I immobilised him quickly, even though I knew he wouldn't like being helpless. I did it just in time, because right at that moment Draco Malfoy burst through the door, just as I thought he would. He lost no time in Disarming me, my wand fall in over the edge of the Tower. I was weak, still sick from the potion I had to drink and I was defenceless. It was a shame, he couldn't bring himself to do it, Draco could have easily killed me."

"Wait?" I said, "He didn't kill you? Who killed you then?"

He sighed, "I knew that he wanted to do it, Voldemort had given him orders to kill me, and he had had several attempts to do so throughout the year. But unfortunately for him, neither attempts had worked, both of them almost killing an innocent student. Ron was one of them. He had accidentally drunk the poison that Draco had intended for me, and if Harry hadn't saved him in time, with some extraordinarily quick thinking, he would have died." He held up his hands to stop us from questioning him, "Draco had me right where he wanted me, but he couldn't do it. I knew that he wouldn't. He is a good boy at heart, just following the wrong people.

"As Draco was deliberating, other Death Eaters arrived at the door. Alecto and Amycus Carrow, Fenrir Greyback, and one other I whose name I can't remember for the life of me." I was absolutely horrified that Harry was so close the Greyback, the werewolf known for being so ferocious and vicious. "Each of them tried to get him to do it, but he couldn't. Then Severus arrived. I had made a deal earlier with him in the year, that when the time came, and I was weak, he would kill me and put me out of my misery. It took some convincing, but in the end he gave me his word. I did not want to shrivel away slowly and painfully. I wanted it to be fast, and with dignity. That night, on the Astronomy Tower, Severus fulfilled his promise. I pleaded with him, and though I know it hurt him greatly to do it, he killed me."

"No!" I gasped. "You died? Right there? But what about the Death Eaters in Hogwarts? And the students!" I demanded, "What about Harry?!!"

He sighed, "I didn't want to leave them, but I know that they could go on fine with out me. The Death Eaters were only there to kill me, and I'm positive that once the job was done, they would have left. And as for Harry," he sighed again, "he will be confused and hurt at first, but the time will come when he will make the decision to leave all comfort behind and set out to bring peace to the Wizarding World once again."

There was a stunned silence. I couldn't believe that Harry had to go through all this pain just to bring Voldemort down. He has lost so many people he cared about, it just doesn't seem fair.

"So, he has to go and hunt down the remaining Horcruxes?" James asked quietly.

"Yes," Dumbledore said, "He has to kill Voldemort's snake, then find out where and what the other two Horcruxes are."

"So he doesn't know what they are?" Sirius said.

"No, but he is very smart, and if he has Ron and Hermione's help, which I'm sure he will, he will figure it out."

"Do _you_ know what they are?" James asked

Dumbledore shook his head. "I don't know for sure but I do have suspicions. As a young man, Voldemort liked to have treasures, things that he thought were worth something. I suspect that one of the Horcruxes is a cup that belonged to Helga Hufflepuff and the other would probably be something of Ravenclaws, but I didn't really get time to think about that one."

"But..." I said, confused, "you said that Voldemort had made seven Horcruxes, and those only add up to six. Or don't you know what the other one is?"

"I do know what it is." Dumbledore said, in a grave voice, which worried me immensely. "The final Horcrux is…Harry."

For one long moment, there was no sound. My mind seemed to be working very slowly and it took me a long time to process what Dumbledore had just said. Then it hit me. _Harry. _

_My boy, my only son was the seventh and final Horcrux. He is only living, so that he can die._ I burst into tears at the same time as I heard the yells.

"_No!"_

"NOT HARRY!"

James and Sirius were on their feet. Sirius began marching around the room, swearing at the top of his lungs, knocking things over and kicking the table. James just stood where he was, not moving an inch, his hands clenched into fists so tight that I could see the tendons sticking out. I stared at his hands blindly for a few moments, still sobbing uncontrollably until I realised that they were shaking.

I looked up at his face and only then did I notice that he was crying, tears just falling down his cheeks slowly. I tried to stifle my sobs as I reached out to gently unfurl his fingers. He looked down at me then, looking at me as if he only just realised I was there. Then he sat down next to me, and I buried my face in his chest. We sat there for what seemed like forever, James with his comforting arms wrapped around me, and my face hidden against his shirt, soaking it with my tears. I could still hear Sirius marching around the room, and it was only then that I remembered Dumbledore's presence.

When I looked at him, just sitting there across from me, watching us break down with a sad expression on his strangely young looking face, something just clicked inside my head.

"But, wait." I sniffed, trying to calm myself, "Didn't the prophecy say that Harry had to kill Voldemort or the other way around? If Harry dies Voldemort will live forever because no one can kill him. And you said that Voldemort could die."

A huge smile appeared on Dumbledore's face so suddenly that I was rather taken aback, but it was lucky I was sitting down. Sirius was so surprised that he tripped over the table leg.

Dumbledore chuckled, "My dear Lily you really are an incredibly smart woman. You could give Hermione Granger a run for her money."

Sirius laughed, heaving himself into a sitting position on the floor "I don't think that's possible Dumbledore." I glowered at him, and he added hastily, "Because they have never met."

Dumbledore laughed quietly. "I never said Harry would die."

Even I couldn't comprehend that. "But how can he survive if he is the last Horcrux. All the Horcruxes have to be destroyed."

"I believe that it is possible for the Horcrux in Harry to be destroyed without Harry actually have to give up his life." Dumbledore replied, "I think that Harry has once or twice actually thought that he may be a Horcrux. When Harry learns that he is indeed a Horcrux, I am sure that he will go to Voldemort and allow the Killing Curse to be used on him, because he would believe that if he dies, the Wizarding World will be safe. If Harry makes no move to defend himself, the part of Voldemort's soul inside him will be destroyed by the Killing Curse, but his own soul will be unharmed. Only then, is it possible for Harry to defeat Voldemort once and for all."

It was silent. You could have heard a pin drop. Everyone just sat still, absorbing this information and trying to wrap their mind around it. But there was something that still bothered me. Apparently it bothered James too.

"How did Harry become a Horcrux in the first place?" he asked.

"Well, I believe that when Lily died to save Harry, she unconsciously cast a very old spell over Harry. He was protected by her love from most of the power of the Killing Curse which Voldemort then attempted to set on him. When he cast that spell, Voldemort accidently split his already fragile soul into its seventh piece, and that piece latched on to the only living thing in the room. Which happened to be Harry."

"So that's why he disappeared…" Sirius trailed off.

Dumbledore nodded, "When his soul was separated, it almost killed Voldemort. He lost his body almost, and was not entirely human for over a decade. It was in the graveyard thirteen years later that he fully came back to power because he gained a new body. It was only then that he was powerful enough to fight Harry on his own."

There was another prolonged silence. My head was starting to hurt.

"So, let me get this straight." Sirius said, "Harry has to hunt down four more Horcruxes and destroy them, without being caught by Voldemort and his many minions, and without Voldemort knowing. He then has to somehow find Voldemort only after all the Horcruxes are destroyed and let Voldy use the Killing Curse on him without defending himself, so that the Horcrux inside him will be destroyed. After all that he has to fight Voldemort one last time to kill him and end all the horror."

"Yes."

Sirius started laughing, "I'm so glad I'm not Harry right now." Count on Sirius to make a deadly and dangerous task a laughing matter. I sighed.

Dumbledore, upon hearing my sigh, looked at me and said softly, "Lily, don't be worried. I have the utmost faith in Harry, I know that he can do it. He is a great wizard, brave, noble and loyal. A true Gryffindor through and through. Just like his parents," he smile kindly at us, before quickly adding, "and like his godfather too." Sirius grinned. "I know he can do it, and I know that _you _know he can too. Just have faith in him; I'm afraid that's all you can do. Goodnight." Then he got up, gave a small smile and a nod, turned on the spot, and he was gone.

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**A/N: Whew! that was a long one!  
I did my long spiel at the beginning so all i have to say is: What do you think? Would Dumbledore have said all that to L&J&S in your mind? Would he have said more? Let me know!! gj x **


	11. Christmas Miracle

**A/N: Thanks so much for all the really interesting reviews on the last chapter! Some of you had some really good points to make and i promise i took them all into account! There is a bit of a jump in time in the middle of this chapter so keep with me. I didn't see any point in putting the middle of it in. You'll see why!!**

**PS: i added the third chapter that i had skipped! Sorry if this is a little annoying, but i didn't realise i had missed it entirely until the other day. So if you haven't read it, read it! It will probably make more sense for the next chapter. Sorry!!**

**On we go...**

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**10- A Christmas Miracle**

**JAMES**

Well, Dumbledore certainly gave us a lot to think about, the night that he came over. It took days for Lily, Sirius and I to even wrap our heads around how much Dumbledore had done for Harry, even though he had given him an incredibly difficult task to do, not to mention life-threatening. I wasn't very happy about that really. I mean, if it works, and Harry does end up defeating Voldy and saving the Wizarding World, then great. But I can't get rid of the nagging feeling in the back of my mind that it is going to be so incredibly dangerous and difficult for him. I don't know how he could do it.

But then I think about how so many people have been hurt and killed by Voldemort and his followers, myself included, and I know that this nightmare time has to end. Hundreds of people have been killed, and thousands more emotionally and mentally effected. Harry is Exhibit A. His parents, his godfather, his mentor and so many others that he cared for have been killed by this monster of a wizard and now he his putting himself on the line to end it all.

I spend hours a day just thinking about this, my mind going around in circles, and I can never decide whether what Harry is doing is a good thing or not. The only thing that I can decide on in the end is that I have a tremendous headache.

So I have given up on thinking about it. I just try to relax and enjoy everyone and everything around me these days. Of course, that's easier said then done. More and more people have been arriving here of the past 8 or so months in increasing numbers and it is beginning to scare me. It's already getting to Lily, she's worried that we will be seeing some old friends soon and that's something that no one wants.

Today was Harry's birthday. Obviously, every year this is a very hard day for Lily and me because it just made it even more clear how we were missing out on so much about Harry and his life. Today was even harder then usual though, because he was turning seventeen. He was of legal age it should be this huge celebration for him.

And we weren't there to celebrate with him.

Lily had spent the morning crying, like she usually did on this particular date every year, but it was a lot worse today. When she had cried out all the moisture in her body, she obviously wanted to get her mind off things, so she has dragged me to the library. She claimed it was because she wanted "to see if anything new had come in" but I knew the truth, and I went along with her only because I knew how she felt and what she wanted to escape from feeling. Apparently the library is a good place to do that.

To be fair, she does live the library. Merlin knows why. I had to physically drag her out of there last time and she is a bloody lot stronger then she looks.

Then again, seeing as I was going to be there anyway, I decided I would try and look for something about Horcruxes.

However, after about three hours of unsuccessfully looking through everything that had _anything _to do with Horcruxes, I was feeling frustrated and disappointed.

"This is why I hate libraries." I grumbled unhappily to myself, slamming the thick book I had been paging through shut with a bang.

"What's wrong James?" I heard Lily murmur quietly from behind the next row of books.

"I don't know how you like doing this." I sighed, "How do you have the patience to keep looking for hours for one particular thing? It's maddening."

She laughed, "It's only maddening for you because you have the patience of a werewolf at full moon. What are you looking for that is so difficult to find? This library has almost everything!"

I got up and walked around the row to where she was sitting on a worn leather chair, a very old looking book with yellow pages in her lap. I went right up to her and leant down, murmuring, "Horcruxes."

She looked up at me in surprise then sighed, "Me too." She glanced down at her book again, turning the page, then giving a small shake of her head and shut it. Dust flew out from in between the pages. "But I can't seem to find anything either. Clearly Horcruxes come under the tiny section of things this library doesn't have. It must be such evil magic that Above literally can't have it. At least that's the only conclusion I can come up with."

I nodded, knowing that whatever reasoning she came up with would most likely be the right one. She brought my attention back to her by sniffing suddenly, "It just worries me, you know. If it's so evil that we can't possibly find it here, it just makes it worst that Harry is down on earth, trying to find several of them in the real world! It's so horrible!"

"I know." I couldn't deny it, "But we have to be strong for him, Lil. If he is anything like you, he will be very determined and stubborn and won't stop until he has found them and destroyed them all. Besides, I know he can do it. If he can't, then we will—"

"PRONGS! LILY!"

"Sirius?" Lily and I said at the same time, looking up to see Sirius himself rounding the corner quickly, almost knocking over an entire shelf of books.

Nikki's puffing voice came from behind him. "Sirius, we just have to come and get them, you can destroy the library another day."

He ignored her, and steadying the shelf quickly, cried, "Moody's here!"

There was stunned silence with Lily and I until Lily clearly found her voice. "Moody? As in Alastor Moody? He's here?"

Sirius nodded quickly, grabbing my arm and yanking me to my feet. "He wants to see you. Come on!"

Nikki pulled Lily up and we all ran after Sirius, ignoring the librarian's yells about disturbance.

When we finally made it to the Diamond Gates, we could see Alastor Moody, sitting comfortably on a bit boulder. He looked a lot less scarred, younger and I noticed that he had both normal his legs and eyes. On his shoulder sat a snowy white owl that fluttered its wings as we approached. He got up with the owl still on his shoulder and shook our hands when we got closer to him.

"Lily, James." He said in his familiar gruff voice, "It's been a while."

"Sure has, Moody." I grinned, "Missed the days we spent fighting the bad guys together?"

He gave a vague jerk of his shoulders. "Some. Personally, I work better alone."

I snorted in amusement as Lily said, "It's so good to see you, Alastor. But it does surprise me that you are here."

"That's what I said, Lils." Sirius added, "I said I thought he would have lasted at least a little while longer."

Moody laughed dryly, "Most people think that. S'not my fault that scoundrel Mundungus decided he was chicken and leave me to fight away ten Death Eaters."

"Mundungus?" Sirius growled, "Never trusted that kid. He's the reason you're dead?"

Nodding Moody said, "He was disguised as Harry and when the Death Eaters started to close in on us, he got scared and apparated away. Obviously they realised he wasn't the real Harry and went off to find him. Killed me on the way."

"That's just awful!" Nikki cried.

Moody just shrugged again and I went to say something but Sirius cut over me, "Hey Moody, is that Hedwig on your shoulder?"

"Sure is. I came up here and she was just sitting on that rock." He pointed behind us to the boulder we had found him on, "Shame really. Harry really loved her."

"That's Harry's owl?" Lily asked in quiet amazement, reaching forward to pat her white feathers gently.

"Yep." Sirius said, "I bet she was waiting for you to get here. I'm sure she wanted to meet you, she's a smart thing."

Just then, Hedwig hopped off Mad Eye's shoulder and flew onto mine. I patted her softly and she cooed. "She's beautiful." Nikki sighed, also reaching over to stroke her.

"Who gave him an owl?" I asked, "Dursley's definitely wouldn't have."

Sirius laughed, "Hagrid did. As an eleventh birthday present for Harry. She's been with him since his first day of school. She was his first friend in the magical world."

I smiled at the beautiful bird and for a fleeting second, I thought I saw her smile back but then she flew off my shoulder and soared into the sky, turning into a tiny white dot before disappearing completely.

"Why did she fly away?" Lily said sadly.

I sighed, "Above isn't for animals, Lils. She's gone to a better home." She nodded and I turned back to Moody, "So why were you outrunning the Death Eaters?"

"Well, it's Harry's seventeenth birthday today—"

"We do know that." I interrupted, "He's our son."

"I know, but if you shut up, I will tell you what we were doing."

So I did shut up and Moody explained to the four of us what the Order's plan was for Harry. He told us of the seven Potters, which Sirius and I couldn't help but laugh at, imagining Harry's reaction of seeing himself duplicated perfectly six times. He then told us of how they had split up to confuse the Death Eaters and how when Mundungus Disapparated it gave Moody away.

"If Voldemort's reign continues," Moody said in his usual, blunt way, "The Wizarding World will be a very dark place; a world where pure blood is the _only_ blood and where the Dark Mark is a symbol of power. Harry is the only hope we have left."

That wasn't a very comforting thought for any of us, and I was almost glad I was up here, not down on earth still. But I know deep down that Harry can, and _will _beat Voldemort. I just hope not many more lives would be lost in the process.

…………………………………..

"Merry Christmas," I murmured to Lily.

She groaned sleepily and I chuckled quietly knowing how she hated being woken up any earlier then 10 o'clock. But it was 9:56 and I knew that Sirius would be here any minute to wish us a happy Christmas. He loved Christmas.

"Liiiiiily…" I said, brushing hair out of her face softly to kiss her forehead, "time to get up my sleeping beauty. It's Christmas." She groaned again, though this time it sounded remarkably like "who cares", and rolled to face away from me. I laughed again, "Sirius will probably be here any minute…"

"Damn it," she grumbled finally sitting up and rubbing her eyes.

"Don't be too harsh on him Lilyflower," I said, "you know how he loves Christmas."

"Yes, but he doesn't have to barge in every year and jump on our bed like a four-year old."

"He may look older on the outside but he really is only four on the inside." I chuckled, dragging myself back to the present, "You of all people know that."

"I suppose so," she sighed, then turned to kiss me, saying, "Merry Christmas."

I deepened the kiss after a few seconds, and I felt her smile and wrap her arms around my neck, pulling me closer. As it was starting to get more heated, I was just beginning to think that this might be a _really_ good Christmas when, what do you know… "MERRY CHRISTMAS!"

Sirius ran into our room and bounced up on the bed, almost jumping on my leg. "Get out of bed, Jamesie and Lilyflower!" he sang. "It's Christmas! And can you snog somewhere else?"

"Sirius, this is our house!" Lily yelled at him, "And you're on _our _bed! Go away!"

He grinned cheekily. "Nope."

I tried to reason with him, desperately wanting to be alone with my Lily so we could continue what he had so rudely interrupted. "Sirius, please leave. You can come back in an hour or so." When he shook his head I said, "Shouldn't you be waking up Nikki?"

"Nah, she just slaps me. You guys are more fun."

"You can have extra pudding if you leave now." Lily bargained.

He frowned as he jumped, thinking it over. He thought for so long that I began to get hopeful, but then he said, "No thanks," and continued bouncing.

Lily glared at him, and I could almost see her burning holes in his shirt, "Get OFF!" she yelled, yanking the blanket up so hard that she pulled it right out from under him and he tumbled off the bed spectacularly, almost doing a complete backflip.

There was a beat of silence, before I burst out laughing. Seeing him falling off my bed like that was possibly the funniest thing I had ever seen Sirius do. Especially since my wife was the one who was strong enough to make him fall. I had never been able to do that. Mainly because I hadn't thought of it. Man that could have saved me a lot of time.

Sirius groaned on the floor which only made me laugh harder, and after a minute Lily started laughing too. Soon enough we were in near hysterics.

"Fine," Sirius said, clambering up from the floor, "I get it. Celebrate without me. See if I care. And you can forget about getting your presents."

I tried to calm my laughter, "Oh c'mon Pads," I said, "don't be like that. You have to admit, it was pretty funny." I tried not to laugh, and was unsuccessful. Lily was still giggling beside me.

"No it wasn't." he sulked, "I don't like being thrown off beds. It's not fun. I'm leaving."

He opened the door, and Lily managed to stop laughing long enough to say, "See you at lunch, Siri!" he ignored her and walked out of the room, but we knew that he would be back for lunch. Mainly because my wife makes the best Christmas lunch ever, but also because he can't cook to save his life.

He was back by 11.

…………………………………………

"Well, I think that could have possibly been the best Christmas ever." I said at about midnight that night as Lily and I started up the stairs to bed.

"Because…" Lily prompted.

"Because I love my present, thank you very much" I said, leaning down to kiss her cheek, "because I think that ham may have been the best I have ever eaten, but especially because you making Sirius fall off the bed this morning was possibly the most hilarious thing I have ever seen."

She laughed, "That was pretty funny. But I'm not sure the ham was the best I've ever made."

I rolled my eyes, "Of course it was honey, every year it's better,"

"No its not." She disagreed, "this year I-" she broke off suddenly and looked back down the stairs, frowning.

"What?" I said.

"Shh." She whispered, putting her finger to her lips. She crept back down the stairs and I followed, feeling very confused.

"Lils, it's probably just Sirius getting more food. Leave him."

"No, James it's not Sirius. It was a girl's voice." She whispered walking towards the kitchen.

I was about to say, "Then it's probably Sirius dragging Nikki along," when I heard it too.

"_Harry." _The voice said. Harry? Then it hit me. The speaker. I ignored the super strong urge to sprint to it in excitement, and slowly gestured Lily closer to the little black speaker that was sitting on out kitchen bench. Someone was at our graves.

"_Harry they're here…right here." _The girl's voice said again. We were silent, staring at the speaker, holding our breaths, waiting for another sound. It sounded like this girl was talking to Harry. Was he visiting our graves?

At that moment, Sirius walked in from his place right next door idly, going straight to the fridge, and began to unwrap a piece of ham covered in foil before he noticed us.

"Oh, hey guys. What are you-"

"Shhh!" Lily and I whispered, beckoning him closer just as we heard another voice.

"_The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death" _a male voice said clearly, though sounding confused.

"THAT'S HARRY!" Sirius yelled in surprise, dropping his ham, and I clapped a hand over his mouth. Harry. Harry is visiting our graves. I was listening to my son. I looked at Lily and she had tears silently rolling down her cheeks. I took her hand and squeezed it as Harry continued speaking, _"Isn't that a Death Eater idea? Why is that there?"_

"_It doesn't mean defeating death in the way the Death Eaters mean it, Harry." _The girl voice said.

Sirius's eyes widened, and he pointed repeatedly at the speaker before he was able to get words out, "That's Hermione!" he hissed.

"_It means…you know…living beyond death. Living after death." _Hermione continued. Wow, she was smart, and yet she had no idea how right she was. We _were_ living after death, and we were standing here, listening to them, afraid to move, afraid to breathe, afraid we might miss one second of this.

It was quiet from the speaker for a while, and I began to worry that it had somehow broken, but then I heard someone sniff, and take a few shaky, ragged gulps of air, as if trying to calm themselves, and I knew it was Harry. He was crying.

My eyes were full of tears now, there were so many emotions building up inside of me. My throat constricted and I felt like I could hardly breathe. I could hear my son. He was crying at his parents graves. The mountain of emotions threatened to crush me.

I felt so close to him, like I could actually reach out and touch him, hold him, tell him that everything was okay. I wanted him to know that we could hear him, that we missed him every minute of the day. I wanted to tell him how much I loved him. I wanted him to know so much, it hurt. But I couldn't and that realisation hurt even more.

There was a faint _swish_ in the air, and then some rustling, and I could almost see them laying flowers on our graves. At least, that's what I hope it was. A few hot tears spilled onto my cheeks before I could stop them. It was too quiet. I wanted them to say something else, anything else, just to hear Harry's voice again. But, there was the sound of footsteps crunching the snow and I knew that they were leaving. _No! Stay! _I wanted to say._ Harry, stay!_

It went silent.

We all stood there, motionless, maybe we were waiting for them to come back. Or maybe we were just too sad and shocked to move. Then Lily sniffed quietly, breaking the tension. I put my arm around her and wiped the tears from her cheeks. She smiled up at me sadly. Sirius blew out a big gust of air, as if he had been holding his breath that whole time. Probably had. "Wow," he said.

"Yeah," I murmured.

"That was Harry." Lily said, as if she was only just beginning to realise, "We just heard our son, James!" she looked up at me, her eyes shining with happiness and tears, making them look like glistening emeralds. "Harry was at our graves!" I smiled down at her.

"With Hermione," Sirius added, then he frowned, "I wonder why they were at Godric's Hollow? And why wasn't Ron there? Or maybe he was…"

"Hang on," I said, interrupting his reverie, "was that thing Harry said about the last enemy to be destroyed is death, is that on our graves?"

Sirius nodded, "I wasn't too keen on it being there, because Harry is right, it is a Death Eater idea, but then, Dumbledore and Remus convinced me it was a good thing to put there. And they were right as usual. It does make sense, especially the way Hermione explained it." He grinned, "told you she was smart."

Lily and I smiled at him, and it was quiet again, until Lily yawned. "I think I will go to bed," she said, "it's been a long day. But a great one."

"Yeah, me too." Sirius said, "G'night Prongsie, Lilyflower."

"Night Pads," I said at the same time as Lily said, "Good night Sirius. And don't come into our room tomorrow morning. Boxing Day is not as important as Christmas Day."

He laughed as he opened the front door. "If you say so Lils."

I went to bed in a daze, all I was really aware of was that Lily was beside me. We didn't say anything to each other. We didn't need to. Over the next few days we could talk and think about what had just happened, but for the moment, we both just wanted to absorb and enjoy that fact that we had just heard our son.

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**A/N: So are you all still with me? A bit teary? I hope so :) Tell me what you think!!**


	12. Friends?

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, but i wish i did. I'm not JK Rowling, but i wish i am.**

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**12- Friends?**

**LILY**

There was shouting from downstairs, the raised voices being muffled by the walls. I sighed heavily. I was used to it by now, it had been going on for twenty years, but it still made me uncomfortable. Why couldn't they just get along? How can they keep up a relationship when they can't even be friends? And the worst one: what happens if they can't even have the relationship anymore?

James heard my exhalation and turned to me with a smile. "Why does it surprise you, Lil? They're always fighting."

"I just worry that one day, one silly fight will get out of hand, and they will both get hurt because of it. It could go too far. What if they break up?" I looked back down at my book, making her long red hair fall over her shoulder, hiding my face from him.

He obviously wasn't going to tolerate that. I heard him get up off the bed and walk across the room to kneel at my feet and brush my hair aside. I kept my eyes on my book and tried to ignore the screams that were still echoing up the stairs.

"What do you mean?" He asked, lifting my chin with a finger so I was forced to look him in the eyes.

"You said it just then, James. They're _always _fighting! What happens if it gets out of hand? I don't think either of them could take that. And what about us? If they go separate ways, how will that affect you and me, if my best friend and your best friend want to avoid one another entirely? Does that mean we have to go with them? What—"

"Shhh," He cut me off before I could get too hysterical. His eyes read the terror on my face seriously. "Where is all this coming from? And how the sodding hell does it affect us? Yes, they are our best friends, but if they split, it doesn't mean we have to. Besides, I love you too much to ever leave you for too long. You're stuck with me forever." I smiled reluctantly when he grinned and winked at me. "And they are _not _going to break up, they love each other more then what a silly fight could do. It's just their personalities clashing. You know how they are. They're both so confident and loud."

As if to confirm his statement, Nikki's voice suddenly increased in volume, and it rung out loud and clear. "SIRIUS BLACK, YOU WANKER! THAT IS NOT A BLOODY EXCUSE! GOOD LOOKS DON'T GET YOU EVERYWHERE!"

"DON'T TEST ME, WOMAN!"

"_EXCUSE ME?!" _

I started laughing at Nikki's incredulous and furious scream. James was right and I knew it. They did love each other, and even though it sometimes seemed like that wasn't true we all knew it was there. James didn't notice me continue to giggle silently as the screaming match continued downstairs. Obviously sick of hearing it all, he got up and shut the door, making sure to slam it loudly.

Only when he turned around did he notice me convulsing in silent laughter, the wooden chair I was in creaking slightly with my movements. He gave grinned at me and gave me an inquisitive look

"You're right. It's the personalities." I giggled.

He laughed with me as he sat at my feet, "You know that they will stop pretty soon, and when we come down, they will probably be snogging madly."

He looked up at me to see me smile and then he leant his head on my knees. I brushed my fingers gently through his unruly black hair, trying to make it sit a little flatter. It didn't work and I didn't expect it to but James didn't seem to mind. He probably thought I was just running my fingers though his hair because I could. "Don't we have the strangest friends?" he murmured after a minute or so of us both not saying anything, yet hearing the muffled shouting from the living room continue.

"We sure do." I smiled. "But we love them."

"Damn right. Probably because they are the only ones who could put up with us and _our_ never-ending shouting matches at school."

"Yeah. You started most of those, I'll have you know." I teased, shifting my legs slightly but making his head bounce on my knees roughly.

"That's not true." He said indignantly. "I only antagonised you so that I could get you to speak to me in some way, even if you did insult me and my ego. At least I got to hear your voice. You didn't have to get so mad all the time."

"I can't help it! I don't really have the best temper."

He laughed, "You don't need to tell me that, Lilyflower. I don't think anyone knows it more then I do."

I laughed with him, hitting him on the head lightly, and his gentle laughter seemed to cut out the muffled yells from downstairs. We sat in comfortable silence, and after a moment I closed my eyes, listening to the quiet.

"Lily?" I heard James whisper. I didn't bother to open my eyes.

"Hmmm…?"

"Don't you think it's just a little bit too quiet?"

"Oh!" I gasped, jumping up suddenly. He was right of course, in my moment of peacefulness I hadn't noticed that the noise from downstairs had finally disappeared. Unfortunately for James, I had forgotten he was still leaning against my legs when I stood up, and his head to fell backwards and hit the leg of the chair with a muted _thud_.

"Ouch." He grumbled, rubbing his head.

I pressed my lips together tightly, trying not to laugh. He could tell and frowned at me. "Sorry, honey." I managed to say, helping him back to his feet.

He rolled his eyes at me because I was still trying not to laugh. "Should we go survey the battle zone?" I nodded.

As we walked down the stairs quietly, we began to hear Nikki murmuring softly, and I realised with relief that they weren't making out in my living room.

"Sirius…Siri? Why are you so shocked? You knew it would happen eventually."

"It's just…he-he was my friend…" came the slightly strangled reply.

"Who was your friend?" James asked as we rounded the corner. I saw Nikki standing there, her eyebrows pushed together in worry, holding Sirius's hand tightly. When I looked up at him, I noticed with shock that his face was white, and he looked like he was struggling with himself internally. He stared at James with agonized eyes.

"What's wrong, Padfoot?" James asked.

"You…you didn't hear it?" Nikki said, ignoring his question.

"Hear what?" I asked, and when Nikki didn't say anything, I looked at Sirius warily, who was still staring at James silently, clearly trying to convey some sort of message. When no one answered me, I got more frantic. "What didn't we hear?!"

"The beep." Sirius murmured quietly, turning around.

_The beep. _My stomach dropped to the soles of my feet, and I followed Sirius's gaze slowly to the black screen directly in front of me. I hadn't even thought to look at it when I had come in, and if I had, I most definitely would have seen the name on it, glaring at me in blood red; the familiar name of an old friend, one of the most important people in James and Sirius's lives who turned his back on them in a moment of selfishness.

**PETER PETTIGREW**

James continued to stare at the screen in shock, his eyes wide and his mouth hanging open. Sirius was still looking at him, trying to read his reactions. Nikki and I watched them both warily.

A part of my was sad that Peter had died, and it almost felt like he didn't deserve to go Below, but obviously there was too much evil in him. I spent seven years of school with him and although, I admit, I always found him a bit annoying and weird, he was part of my school life and a good friend to the rest of the Marauders.

I took James's hand gently, knowing he would need some kind of support. I remembered seeing him so hurt and betrayed looking when he discovered that Peter had betrayed him and I knew that seeing his name again probably brought up bad memories rather then good.

After a long moment, James let out a big breath and looked down at me and at my worried face.

"I'm okay." He sighed, letting go of my hand to slide his arm around my waist and pull me closer. I knew that this was mostly because he needed to have me close for support rather then as a loving gesture, but I didn't mind.

We looked at Sirius who lifted the corner of his mouth wryly, "We knew it was going to happen eventually, right? Better sooner then later I suppose."

We nodded and then James suddenly said, "Hey, now Moony is the only Marauder left on earth." His face contorted into sadness.

But Sirius laughed, "I always thought it would have been the other way round." When we looked confused, he sighed and explained, "Moony and I always thought that Prongs would marry Lily and they would live to about two hundred with millions of great-great-great grandchildren running around the house. I thought Wormtail would live to a normal old age, but lonely and I thought Rem would have carked it first, you know from the stress of being a werewolf and everything."

"And when would you have gone?" I had to ask.

He shrugged, "I wasn't really sure about that. When I was really young, I wanted to live as old as possible and still be able to fly around on a broom and make all these cool potions. But when I got older I just wanted have all you guys in my life somehow and be as far away from my family as possible." He laughed again, "I probably would have killed myself making up some insane spell to torture Snivellus with."

Nikki and I giggled quietly and James rolled his eyes. "That is some twisted logic right there, mate."

The mood had lightened perceptively and I suddenly wasn't so tired anymore. "I'm going to make some tea." I announced to the room at large, heading into the kitchen, "Anyone want anything?"

"Chocolate frogs!"

"Firewhiskey!"

I rolled my eyes at James and Sirius, "Anything that's not almost entirely made of sugar or alcoholic."

The both frowned at me and shook their heads now that I had limited their choices substantially. I clucked my tongue at them and moved around the kitchen, hearing them all shuffle the chairs around the table, evidently choosing not to sit in the living room right under Pettigrew's name.

I turned around to see Nikki wandering into the kitchen behind me, smiling gently. "I thought you might like a hand, seeing as those two slobs can't be bothered."

"Thanks Nik." I grinned at her. "About time someone offered to help me."

She laughed, moving to stand beside me and wave her wand so the tea bags fell into the mugs perfectly. "Well, you should have known when you married James that he would never be much help around the house."

"I did know that. I lived with him for an entire year, remember? Even in the Heads common room I had to pick up after him!"

Still snickering, Nikki said, "I know what you mean. The reason I'm not living with Sirius right now is because I don't feel the need to take on a job as his maid yet, seeing as he has only been here two years. I was enjoying not having to clean up all his crap."

We laughed together but after a moment we fell silent as we focused on our jobs. After a few minutes, Nikki murmured, "Do you think they're okay? Sirius and James, I mean. About Peter?"

I looked up, surprised not at her question, but at her use of his first name. I thought I was the only one who still called him Peter, seeing as James and Sirius refused to call him anything other then Pettigrew or 'that two-faced rat'. Sometimes 'Wormtail' slipped in there, but it was only if they were feeling comfortable enough to use the old nickname. I didn't think that changing what they called him would make his choices and the implications of those disappear and evidently Nikki didn't think so either.

I regained my composure to say, "They will be. It's just a shock. I'm sure that deep down, they are really sad that he has to go Below. He was their friend for so long and they will still have those memories."

"Yeah," Nikki sighed, picking up her hot mug, "You're right. But I still hope they—"

She was cut off by a loud _CRACK_ that resounded through the kitchen, followed by my shocked shriek. Something had just materialized in the middle of my kitchen, and not that it was odd in the Wizarding World to see things appear out of thin air, but not many people Apparated in Above and evidently I was out of practice.

I looked down to see a house elf standing on the cream tiles, looking sad and slightly scared. He was really quite clean for a house-elf and was entirely covered in knitted garments. There was a multi-coloured beanie on his head, covering his ears, blue mittens on his hands, a thick green sweater covering his body to his knees and long, bright pink socks on his bony feet.

James and Sirius came sprinting in, obviously put on edge by my scream, only to stop dead at the colourful ball of wool standing in our kitchen.

James walked over to me and rubbed my shoulder, "Are you alright, Lils?"

"I'm fine." I insisted with a small laugh, gesturing to the house-elf who was now watching us as his tennis ball eyes widened to the size of basketballs. "This house-elf just appeared and scared me to death, but I'm fine."

James looked down at the house-elf who was now bouncing on his feet, looking rather excited about something. "Who are you?" James asked.

"I'm Dobby, sir!" The house-elf squeaked enthusiastically. "You're James Potter! Dobby has heard a lot about you and about Lily Potter." He turned to stare at me, then at James. "You look just like your son, James Potter. Harry Potter looks just like you. But he has his mother's eyes. I remember those very well. They were the last things Dobby saw before he was here."

"You knew Harry?" I whispered, suddenly liking Dobby a lot more.

"Oh, yes Dobby knew Harry Potter. Dobby first met Harry Potter to warn him that bad things were going to happen at Hogwarts and that Harry Potter was not to go back there. But Harry Potter is very brave and kept trying to go back to school. Then he saved Dobby and freed Dobby from his master by giving Dobby his own sock! Dobby promised to do what ever Harry Potter wanted him to do and was always there to serve Harry Potter. He was a very good friend to Dobby, and even came to save Dobby when he was captured by his old masters."

I was amazed that Harry had been so caring to this elf and so brave. I was also happy that Harry obviously had needed Dobby before and he had been ready to help. I looked up to see Nikki and James both looking equally astounded but Sirius was just smiling at Dobby and I realised that he probably knew about Dobby before.

"When did Harry have to save you from the Malfoys, Dobby?" Sirius asked.

Dobby spun around to look at Sirius who was still standing in the doorway of the kitchen. "Sirius Black!" he cried, "Harry Potter misses you very much, sir. He was very sad when you fell into the veil."

Sirius nodded, looking solemn but touched before saying again, "When did Harry save you from the Malfoys? He never told me about that."

"It was just tonight, Sirius Black, sir. Dobby was called by Harry Potter to the Malfoy's house because Harry Potter needed Dobby. Dobby helped him get Mr Ollivander and Luna Lovegood out of their cellar but then Dobby got into trouble when he saw Master Malfoy and Mistress Black. But Harry Potter helped Dobby get away. Then Dobby got a pain in his chest, and Dobby saw a knife right here," he pointed to the middle of his chest, and I gasped, "And the last things Dobby saw where Harry Potter's eyes before he was here. They were as green as yours, Lily Potter." He turned back to me, "But they were more wet." He added with an after thought.

"He was crying," I murmured to myself. My heart melted for Harry's pain, he obviously cared for Dobby.

"You're masters were the Malfoy's?" James asked, "No wonder Harry needed to free you from them."

Dobby nodded, "They were not very nice masters, but Dobby had to keep working for them until they gave him a piece of clothing."

"But you said Harry gave you the sock. You wouldn't have been free if he gave you the sock and not Malfoy." Nikki said.

"Harry Potter put the sock in the diary that belonged to Master Malfoy." Dobby explained, "Then Master Malfoy gave Dobby the diary to carry and Dobby opened it to find the sock Harry Potter had put in there. Dobby was free."

I was about to say something when Dobby suddenly looked around and said, "Dobby must go now. Dobby can't stay here. But Dobby wanted to come to meet Harry Potter's parents and thank them for what they did for Harry Potter." He looked at James and me with his big, bright eyes. "Thank you, Lily and James Potter, for dying for Harry Potter so that he could live. Harry Potter is a very brave, kind person who Dobby knows will defeat Lord Voldemort. Dobby had the honour of knowing Harry Potter and was allowed to call him by his name, which Dobby has never been allowed to do before and Dobby is forever grateful."

My eyes watered at the transparent honesty that Dobby had and how clearly he was very grateful to my son and what he had done for him.

"Dobby has to go, but Dobby wishes he could stay with Lily and James Potter. And with Sirius Black who Harry Potter misses dearly. Thank you Lily and James Potter, Dobby is forever grateful!"

There was another loud _CRACK _and Dobby disappeared.

* * *

**A/N: Ok so i know the ending was a bit sudden, but i couldn't let it go on for too much longer. What do you think? Dobby couldn't stay because house elves don't live in Above but i kind of wish he could have. He is a wonderful character and i hope i did him justice! The next chapter is really where the fun begins (so to speak) and there will be more great characters arriving so hold onto your hats!**

**REVIEWS = HAPPY GINNYJAFFA = FASTER UDATES!!**


	13. A Night to Remember Part 1

**12- A Night to Remember Part 1**

**JAMES**

"Okay, that's enough. I think it's time to hit the hay."

"Awww, Lilyflower, that's not fair! One more game. Pleeeease?"

It was now past March and nothing has really changed. After Dobby's visit, it became clearer to Lily and I and Sirius and Nikkki that Harry really had a large support group of people who cared for him and believed in him and it made us a little more confident that he will succeed in what he was planning to do. However, over the past few months, more people continue to arrive, and almost every name shone from the screens in purple. It really was horrifying to see the number of murders that were happening all around the world and people were getting anxious and impatient for it all to stop.

We tried to live everyday normally and not focus on the horrors that were happening on Earth. To make it more natural, Sirius continued nagging Lily and doing things she didn't want him to do while Nikki and I looked on with amusement. And even though she denies Sirius and his ideas almost every time, Lily loves him, deep down. "No, Sirius! I'm tired. I want to go to bed."

Sirius snorted, "No you don't. You just want to read that book by that git Gilderoy Lockfart you got from the library yesterday."

I laughed quietly with Nikki at the name Sirius had taken to calling Harry's old teacher. Lily blushed slightly when Sirius guessed her plan correctly, and then composed herself. "So what if I do?" she asked, glaring at him, "and it's Lock_hart_ , Sirius."

"But Lils, you can't go now! We were just about to start a new game!" he whined.

Knowing Sirius like I did, I could guess the game he was planning on playing. I looked at Nikki, who stared back at me warily obviously thinking the same thing. Lily sighed, falling for it, "What game?"

"Strip Poker!"

"_No_!_"_

I decided then that I did not want to watch Lily try to kill my sometimes infuriating, always immature best friend. I also wasn't really fond of the idea of my best friend playing Strip Poker with my wife. "Padfoot," I groaned, "just let her go to bed and read her crap."

"James! It's not crap." Lily scolded me, "I know that it's not true, not to mention completely factually incorrect,"—Sirius, Nikki and I all rolled our eyes— "but it still is a good story."

I sighed, "Just go Lil, before Sirius starts crying." We both looked at him, sitting on the floor, having slid out of his chair in over-dramatic misery and staring at the ground. Lily rolled her eyes at him, gave me a kiss on the cheek then went upstairs to read her Lockfart book. Sirius looked up at me hopefully when he heard the bedroom door close. "Do you want to play with me Jamesie? Nikki?"

"No, Sirius!" I burst out, highly disgusted, "I will not play Strip Poker with you!!"

"Neither will I, Siri." Nikki said, crossing her arms, and looking rather mad.

"We can have a few Firewhiskey's first and then we won't know what we are doing!"

"No!" Nikki yelled, "Sirius Black, I WILL NOT play a stupid game so that you can use the excuse to see me naked. That's all you ever think about, and I am so sick of it! It may surprise you to know that women are not just objects that you can mess about with!"

Sirius and I stared at her, shocked at her angry outburst. Sirius had been getting on Nikki's nerves more then usual over the past month and she seemed to have reach breaking point. I could just imagine all the stupid things he had said to get her in this mood.

"Nik, it was just a joke." Sirius almost pleaded.

"No, it wasn't Sirius! You are just as perverted as you were in school and it sickens me!"

"You dated me in school too! You can't have thought I was that perverted!"

She shook her head, "I tried to ignore it at school. I tried to pretend that you hadn't been a huge player, sleeping with girls for the fun of it. I pretended to ignore your effing fan club, all because I was in love with you!"

"What? Are you saying you're not in love with me anymore?" He tried to hide the fact that that idea really hurt him, but I saw through it.

"No, Sirius, I do still love you, but I don't know if you love me anymore! You seem to be more flirty to other women and distant, and I just don't know if…"

"If what?"

"Sirius." She looked up at his face seriously, "I don't know if I can do this anymore. You just don't seem to love me, and I don't want a relationship based on a lie."

I sucked in a quiet breath. _Oh Merlin. Lily was right. They are breaking up. Nikki is breaking up with Sirius. This can not be good. _ I glanced anxiously at the stairs, but there wasn't a movement. I wished Lily would come back down, I couldn't handle it alone. Then again, I was glad Lily was not here for this, I didn't thinks she could deal with having her fears confirmed.

"It's not based on a lie!" Sirius was shouting, "How can you say that! You don't know… you have no idea!"

"No idea of what, Sirius! Of your _needs_? Of your _emotions_?" Nikki screamed back, "It doesn't matter, okay? Because I can't do this anymore! There is no point in me putting myself through pain if you don't love me. I may as well get it over with!"

She went to storm out the door, but Sirius caught her hand, and refused to let her go, no matter how hard she tugged and wriggled. "Will you stop saying that?" he said, his voice suddenly quiet, yet still somehow managing to cut through the tension and make the impact a shout would have made.

"What? That you don't love me? Why? It's the truth isn't?"

"NO! It's bloody not!"

She stared him down, "Sirius, don't lie to me, I just want the truth."

"Oh, you want the truth!?" he shouted, "Okay, here's the truth! I have loved you since you exploded my potion in my face that time in fifth year. Yeah, that's right I have loved you since then. And when I finally got you to go out with me I was the happiest guy in Hogwarts. And I'm sorry if you thought I flirted with other girls, I'm sorry if my fan club annoyed you. I don't have any excuses for those things. I was young and stupid. But when you were taken from me, I was _heartbroken, _Nik. It killed me. I just felt like my heart had been ripped out and put in a goddamned shredder. It took weeks to even get used to the feeling of a hole inside me, the area your presence used to fill.

"I just didn't feel like me anymore. When you were gone it felt like you had taken all the fun and life out of me with you. But now I'm here with you, and I keep thinking, 'this is it. We can be together forever here, because there is nothing to stop us, nothing to stand in our way.'" He took a deep breath, looking at her intently. "I don't know where you got all those silly ideas, but I've never stopped loving you Nikki, and I still love you now."

She stared at him, I stared at him and if Lily was here she would have _definitely _stared at him. I had never heard him speak like that. It was weird to say the least. I had always thought that Sirius was not one to express his emotions, and he had always supported that theory. Until now, that is.

"But…what about you being so distant? It was almost like you were avoiding me."

"I was just giving you some space, Nik. I know that it is weird for me to suddenly be here and you didn't want to go too fast."

Suddenly, she was laughing, "Not that slow, you sod. I didn't mean at snail pace." He laughed with her, trying to hide the intense relief as he hugged her. "So you really do love me, still?" Nikki asked.

"Of course I do! I've loved you since I was fifteen, and I always will." He said, still laughing.

She beamed at him. "I love you too." She said before he kissed her. I smiled at them, happy that they were still staying together and Lily and I could remain stress-free, but when they were still standing there, kissing after a couple of minutes, I began to get worried.

It was starting to look considerably more intense and there were a lot of roaming hands so I said, loudly, "Alright! If you want to take it further, take it out of my house!"

They laughed, "Okay Prongsie," Sirius said, dragging Nikki by the hand out the door, "Night!"

I waved, then went to go lie down on the couch, shaking my head. I picked up a _very_ old issue of _Quidditch Weekly, _realising that I had not finished reading it. I flicked through the pages, trying to find the scores of the last games, but I stopped on a page that was titled, _Hogwarts Quidditch: Cup Final review. _

It was the review on the Hogwarts Quidditch Cup Finals last year, and I already knew who won, but I read it anyway. It was a rather boring article, yet it one particular paragraph caught my eye.

_It was a bad start for the Gryffindor team. They almost seemed at loss with out their captain, Harry Potter, who could not play because he had earned himself a detention and could not get out of it, much to Gryffindor's frustration. And at first the team seemed to suffer without Potter's star seeker skills. Yet after about 15 minutes into the match, Gryffindor seemed to get their acts together and played the rest of the match spectacularly…_

Stupid Snivellus. I was extremely angry at him for making Harry miss the match. Though, as Dumbledore had pointed out, if Harry hadn't missed the match, he mightn't have got up the courage to kiss the girl of his dreams. Ginny Weasley, whose name was mentioned several times in the article because of her incredible flying, was that lucky girl. I also noticed with interest that there was a picture of her after catching the Snitch at then end of the match. She was on her broom, in the middle of the stadium, her arm extended to show the cheering crowd the Snitch. She was very pretty. Her red hair was flying around her face in the wind, her eyes sparkling as she grinned and waved at the camera. Harry certainly knew how to pick 'em. Something he had obviously inherited from me.

I was just beginning to wonder how Ginny felt about Harry being away on his mission to defeat Voldemort when I looked at the clock, and realised that I had been reading and thinking for almost two hours.

I stood up, and was about to go to bed, when Sirius burst through the door, scaring me so much that I fell back onto the couch. His face disarmed me. It wasn't grinning as I had come to expect, but an odd mixture of shock, pain and anger. His hair looked quite messy, his shirt was open and his belt was loose. I was immediately worried. Whatever it was must be important if he was missing out on something that I would rather not think about. "Fred Weasley." He choked out as if it explained his abrupt intrusion.

"What? Sirius, what are you doing back here?"

"Fred Weasley." He repeated. I was beginning to wonder if he had hit his head.

"What? I have no idea what you're talking about Sirius!" I yelled, standing up again. "Shouldn't you be with Nikki?"

"James, what are you yelling about? Oh, Sirius are you _still_ here?" Lily said, coming down the stairs, book in hand.

"No, Lils," I replied, "Sirius had left ages ago, but he just burst back in here then and now he is talking nonsense."

"I'm not talking nonsense James!" Sirius yelled, "Fred Weasley is Ron's older brother! One of the twins. He's just arrived!"

"What?" Lily burst out, and I wondered randomly how many times that has been said in the past few minutes.

"What do you mean what?" Sirius said. Okay, now he was just saying it to annoy me. "You heard me. Now come on!" He bolted out the door, and Lily and I hurried to follow. Nikki joined us, doing up the top button on her jeans as she ran. We were halfway up to The Diamond Gates when we saw a woman holding a young boy's hand, walking back down the hill. The boy looked about 16 and he was crying. The woman next to him was murmuring to him, "It's okay Colin. It will be alright. You are such a brave boy. I know Harry is so grateful that you fought for him, so that You-Know-Who can be defeated…"

I almost stopped and went right up to them, to ask why this young boy was fighting for Harry, but Sirius was still running and I had no time. When we got to the top I could see a man standing there, looking sadly in the boy Colin's direction. From his look I could tell that he knew him somehow. Then Sirius yelled, "Fred Weasley!"

Fred looked our direction, and upon seeing Sirius, he broke into a big smile. Sirius ran up to him and they hugged. Seeing him closer, I recognized Fred as a Weasely with his bright red hair. I know that both Arthur and Molly were redheads when we knew them from the Order. I also noticed that his face was streaked with falling tears. He clutched onto Padfoot like a lifeline. When they broke apart Fred said, "Well, well Sirius, long time no see. You look younger."

Sirius chuckled, "it has been a long time Fred. But I wasn't expecting to see you for at least another 50 years. What happened?"

Fred sighed and shook his head at Sirius, smiling slightly, though it was a hard smile. "Sirius, you know that wherever there are Death Eaters, there is death."

I heard Lily gasp softly and I suddenly felt an overwhelming pity for Fred. "Death Eaters?" Sirius asked. "And you were fighting them? Was the Order there? Was Harry?"

Fred nodded and opened his mouth to say something, then he noticed me, Nikki and Lily standing there, behind Sirius. He closed his mouth again, and frowned at us. Then he looked back at Sirius. "I don't think you have introduced me to your friends, Sirius. How rude of you."

I couldn't help but smile slightly, and Sirius turned around to look at us, "Oh yeah, sorry guys. Forgot you were there." He grinned and Lily rolled her eyes at him.

"Thanks Padfoot," I said sarcastically. He just laughed then said, "Fred Weasley, this is Lily and James Potter."

Fred walked forward to shake our hands, looking sort of stunned, but smiling, "It's an honour to meet you." He said. "I have always wanted to meet you both, well at least since I met Harry." He grinned, "Though I'm pretty sure most of the Wizarding World does."

"Why?" Lily asked.

He shrugged, "You're Harry's parents. You are the reasons he is still alive, fighting Voldemort. I had the great privilege knowing him well, almost like _another _brother. I went to school with him, played Quidditch with him, fought with him…_for _him…" he trailed off, his face falling.

Nikki walked up behind Sirius and gave a small cough. He turned around, "Oh, yeah. And Fred, this is Nikki."

"M'lady." Fred said, taking Nikki's hand and bowing. She giggled and looked at Sirius pointedly.

"See Sirius, this is how you treat a lady."

He sighed, "Fred, I'm going to have to ask you to step away from my woman. You are raising the standard a little bit too high, I'm afraid."

Fred grinned and released Nikki's hand, which Sirius then took firmly. "_Your_ woman, Sirius? I didn't know you could get such good looking ladies."

"There is a lot you don't know about me, Fred." Sirius huffed indignantly.

"Yeah," I laughed, "bet you don't know, Fred, that Sirius was quite into the ladies at Hogwarts." Sirius and Nikki glared at me for bringing up the touchy subject, but I ignored them, looking at Fred who raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, really?"

"Indeed, I think that he must have hooked up with most of the girls in our grade, except the Slytherins, and at least half in the year below. But, then fateful one day he fell in luuurve, and became a one-woman man."

"Interesting…" Fred mused, "And who, pray tell, was the unlucky maiden."

Sirius frowned at him, but Nikki laughed, "That would be me."

"Oh, high school sweethearts! How romantic."

"I'll tell you what's even more romantic," Sirius grinned, "once Nikki and I started going out that forced Lily to spend more time with the Marauders because Nikki happened to be one of Lily's best friends. And incidentally, Lily's _other _best friend, Mary, was also dating our buddy Remus, so Lily _had _to spend time with us because her two best friends were. And this was very convenient for Jamesie, because he had been madly in love with Lily since kindergarten—"

"First year."

"—and she had been refusing his advances since then, so he was incredibly happy that he could spend more time with her, get more obsessed, and eventually prove that he was _actually _an okay guy."

Fred, who had been listening intently during that whole speech, nodded. "Yes, I see. So Lily found out what a good guy James was and finally agreed to go out with him."

"Yep." I said, "And the rest is history." I hugged Lily closer, who wiggled out of they way, smiling.

"Between you and me, Fred," she stage whispered, "I don't know what I was thinking. Now I'm stuck with this wanker forever." Everyone laughed while I pouted.

It was quiet then, until Sirius sighed, and came up behind Fred, putting his arm around his shoulders. "I can't believe you are here." He said quietly, "I would have never expected… everyone will be so torn up. Your family will be devastated. And George…well, he's lost his other half."

Fred's eyes filled with tears again as he muttered, "I've l-lost mine too."

"And Harry never wanted you to die Fred, it will kill him. He will think it's his fault."

"He didn't want you to die either, Sirius." Fred pointed out fairly, "But Voldemort does that to people and everyone they love…Harry knows that all too well. We all knew that. We knew that some people weren't going to live through it. So many have been lost this year already…" he shook his head, as if to dispel some bad thoughts. Then he looked up at us with a small grin. "Man, Harry owes me for this."

We laughed, and began walking down the hill. As we walked, we explained to Fred where he was, what it's like, and everything in between. As I'm sure you can imagine, it took us the whole trip home to explain everything. We all sat down at Sirius's kitchen table, still talking about family, old times, Hogwarts etcetera and until then, the mood had been relatively light. Of course it was Sirius who ruined it.

"Fred," he began, "Why are you here? I mean, what is happening down there?"

Fred sighed, "What do you think is happening? We're fighting. For Harry. For freedom." We just stared at him in shock. He looked down at the table, as if afraid to see our faces. "Harry, Ron and Hermione arrived at Hogwarts this afternoon" He said quietly, "It was a bit of a shock. Nobody has seen them for more then nine months! They told us they were there to look for something, something important. We wanted to help, and at first Harry didn't want us to… he didn't want to get anymore of us involved or we could get hurt, you know how he is, but eventually he gave in. And because the Death Eaters are at Hogwarts, and have been for the whole year, we had no choice but to fight them. Everybody."

"Everybody?" Nikki repeated in shock, "As in the school kids as well?"

"No, not all the students, just the older ones, but a lot of younger ones snuck back to fight."

"Was the Order there?" Sirius asked, "Remus and Kingsley and Tonks? All your family?"

"Yeah," Fred nodded, "even Ginny. She didn't go back to Hogwarts after the Easter Holidays because it was getting too dangerous for her. With Ron suspected of being with Harry and just being a Weasley, it wasn't safe for her anymore. Well, really it hasn't been safe for any kids unless they are Death Eater children. But when Ginny heard that Harry was back and that we were fighting, she wouldn't take no for an answer. You know her Sirius, she's stubborn." He shook his head sadly, but smiled. "Mum was so mad."

Sirius laughed, "I'll bet she was. Did she let Ginny fight?"

"Well, she told her that she had to stay in the Room of Requirement, but I think she knew that Ginny would leave eventually. She is determined, that girl. She won't give up for anything, especially her friends and family…" he trailed off, and a single tear fell onto the table.

"Fred," I said, trying to keep his mind off his family, "do you know if Harry found what he was looking for yet?"

He looked up at me in surprise, "No, I-I don't…" then his eyes narrowed slightly, "You know what he is looking for don't you."

"Maybe…"

"How do _you_ know? You guys should know the least!"

I looked at Lily for help, "Dumbledore told us." She murmured, "he thought we should know everything."

"Can you tell me?" he asked, suddenly animated, "I'm not down there anymore, and I have wanted to know for almost 10 months."

I hesitated, "I don't know…it is really hard to explain."

"Please? Just briefly. I can only absorb small pieces of information at a time anyway." He grinned and tapped his head, "my brain was only built to remember jokes and useless, funny facts. It doesn't hold many serious and important things."

I grinned back, "I think Sirius would be the person to understand that the most here. His brain does the same thing. Though it doesn't hold many jokes either. Actually, I'm not sure there's really anything in there at all."

Fred laughed and said, "Oh, I know," and Sirius said, "Hey! You're mean Prongs."

I opened my mouth for a witty comeback, but I was interrupted by an unexpected _beep. _Lily muttered, "Oh no," while Sirius frowned and got up to go see who it was. Fred turned to me, "Does that mean that someone else has arrived that you knew?"

I nodded, waiting for Sirius to yell or come and get us. I wanted to see who else it was. But it was oddly quiet. "Pads?" Nothing. "Padfoot, who is it?"

It was silent. "SIRIUS!?" Nikki yelled.

"Prongs," I heard him say, very softly. I got up slowly, but he yelled again before I could even leave the kitchen, a lot louder this time.

"JAMES!!"

I ran into the living room, saying, "Sirius, who-". I stopped suddenly when I caught sight of the name on the screen, I felt like the bottom of my stomach had dropped five feet all of a sudden. The name **REMUS LUPIN **was glaring at me in purple, and I felt like I couldn't tear my eyes away.

Then it hit me. _Moony._

"LET'S GO!" I roared at Sirius who was still staring at the screen in shock. He turned so quickly that if I had blinked I would have missed it, and we both streamed out the door. I could vaguely hear Lily, Nik and Fred running behind us.

"James!" Lily yelled, "Who was it? What's going on?"

"It's Remus!" I shouted back over my shoulder, "It's Moony!!"

I heard her give a surprised and sad whimper behind me but I was still trying to keep up with Sirius. We had reached the top of the hill and I could see him. He looked not a day older then the last time I saw him. A wave of sadness suddenly crashed over me and I had to stop running for a moment. I watched as Sirius ran right up to him, yelling, "MOONY!!"

He turned around just before Sirius got to him. They embraced fiercely, and it looked like they were both crying from where I stood, still too stunned to move. Tears filled my eyes as I watched my two best friends reunite. They didn't say anything for a long time. They just stood there, crying, obviously so happy to see each other. "Sirius," Remus eventually muttered, tears rolling down his cheeks, "It's so good to see you."

"You too, Remus," Sirius replied, "I missed you, mate."

"It seems like it's been forever,"

Sirius laughed, "It does, doesn't it? But it's only been two years."

Remus sighed, "I know." After a few moments he pulled back to look at Sirius, "You look good, Padfoot. Happier…and younger."

Sirius laughed again, "You know Moony that what I look like on the outside never ever resembles what my brain age my brain is."

I managed to get a hold of myself then, "Damn right," I said, as I walked towards them slowly. "Your body may get older Sirius, but I think that you will act like an immature four year old forever."

Sirius pouted and stuck his tongue out at me, and I smirked at him, then I looked up at the stunned face of my friend who I haven't seen for 16 years. My throat got choked again. "Hi, Remus."

"James," he muttered before giving me a strong hug. I couldn't keep the tears in and I could tell that Remus was having trouble doing the same. I know we were thinking the same thing. It's so good to see each other again. It has been such a long time, and we never even got to say goodbye.

"It's so good to see you," I said though the blinding tears. "I mean, you shouldn't be here for a while, but I'm really happy you're here all the same." I swallowed heavily, "It's been too long old buddy."

He chuckled quietly through his sobs. "Indeed, James. 16 years is a long time. It was so hard…you died, then Sirius was in Azkaban…and I thought Peter…well, I thought I had lost all my friends."

I closed my eyes, willing myself to keep it together.

"You were the only ones who really accepted me and cared about me and I…I really, really missed you." Remus whispered, his voice breaking.

"I missed you too Moony," I muttered, "You have no idea. I missed your big brain, I missed you always reading. I even missed your furry little problem." I added with a chuckle.

"I'm glad you did." He said sarcastically.

"Aw c'mon mate, we had fun on those little late-night adventures!"

"I'm sure you did Prongs, it just wasn't as fun for me."

I grinned through the tears, it was so good to hear my old nickname coming from him again. After all, he was really the reason we became Animagus in the first place. I pulled back and put my hands on his shoulders. "But seriously Moony, I did really miss you. And I'm so glad you were around for all the years I wasn't. Someone had help Harry grow up maturely." We both laughed, and then Lily walked forward.

"Lily!" Remus yelled, grabbing her and pulling her into a hug. "I missed you too. So much."

But my attention was diverted from Remus's reunion with Lily and Nikki by Sirius, who was yelling at me, "Hey! I was there to help Harry grow up!"

I rolled my eyes at him, "Yes, Sirius, but I said grow up _maturely. _ And as I recently stated, maturity will always be one of the many things you're brain struggles to comprehend." I grinned at him.

He glared at me for a moment, before nodding, seeming to agree with me. Suddenly, Remus grabbed us all into a very random group hug. "My old school friends!" he said happily, tears still pouring down his face. We all laughed, and I, personally completely agreed with him. Finally I had all the people I loved most in the entire world with me again. Well, not _everyone, _and I knew I had to wait a long time for that final person. But right now, I could well be the happiest person in Above.

We stood there, still crying, but smiling madly for what seemed to be a forever. But a small, impatient cough soon interrupted us, and we all turned to look at the moment-ruiner.

He was smiling slightly, "Sorry to break up the little reunion, but I would also like to see your friend, not that it has been a very long time."

I looked Remus who was stared for a long moment in shock. "Fred…" He sounded like he was finding it very hard to speak, "not you too." before giving him a hug.

"It seems so, Remus." Fred muttered. They just stood, seeming too shocked to say anything for the moment. They eventually stepped back and just looked at each other.

"I can't believe this," Remus muttered sadly, tears still in his eyes, "I can't imagine the Weaselys without you, Fred. And George. It just won't be the same."

Fred sniffed slightly, "I know, but I died for Harry and for Hogwarts, and I know that is a great way to go."

"They will be so proud of you." Remus smiled gently, "Everyone. But you know Harry, he will think it's his fault. He will take the blame."

"I know, but that's just him. Plus, when he finds out you're gone too, Remus, he will be torn up. He loves you, you know." Fred added quietly.

A few more tears fell from Remus's light brown eyes. He looked down, mumbling, "I-I know. I just hope he knows that I love him too."

"And Tonks…she won't know what happened. She will be heartbroken, mate."

Remus gave a small sob, and Nikki moved next to him and gave him a comforting hug.

"She was so worried about you. She couldn't stay at home, she said, not knowing… she tried to find you but—"

Remus's head jerked up. "Wait! She was there? At Hogwarts?" he groaned softly, "I told her to stay home, with Teddy. She should have stayed safe. I wanted him to have at least one parent…"

"Well, really Moony, what did you expect?" Sirius cut in, "Fiery girl like Tonks. She would never have been happy to just sit at home waiting. That's just not like her."

"I know, I just didn't want to worry about her as well. I was already worried for Harry and Hermione, and all of the Weasleys, and look how that turned out. I just didn't want to have to think about her, and what I would lose, what she would lose, if I didn't come home." He gave a strangled sob again, Lily was also crying, though silently. Even Fred's cheeks were awash with tears. It saddened me also, to realise that Sirius was right—you have no idea how rare that is—and that Tonks was the one for Remus, but that happiness and love was so short lived.

We all stood in silence, not knowing what to say. Eventually, Remus managed to calm himself down and he looked up at me, his eyes still leaking the occasional tear, but smiling slightly, "So," he said, "Tell me about this place."

* * *

**A/N: Sorry!! i had to stop it there, just to torture you all a little bit more :P But aren't you happy? the first victims of the Battle have arrived! there will be heaps more to come, i promise so keep checking for an update! i will try to put it up soon, but i'm really starting to get snowed with work, so bear with me.**

**Love? Hate? Press that button!!**


	14. A Night to Remember Part 2

**Disclaimer: I own a very slow laptop, several million books and the land of Above. But i would give it all up to own Harry Potter.**

* * *

**13- A Night to Remember Part 2**

**LILY**

As we walked back to Sirius's place, we explained to Remus all about Above.

As we talked, I struggled to wrap my head around the fact that Remus was here. I had missed him, and it has been so long since I have seen him. He was the only Marauder that I had been friends with since the start of Hogwarts, because he was the quieter, caring one, that didn't do as many pranks and was always concentrating in class. I was suddenly overwhelmed with old school memories and the many times I had enjoyed Remus's company over the years. We often sat in silence, reading or studying, but we did spend a lot of the time talking and getting to know each other. I was the first person (apart from the Marauders) who Remus told his secret to. Admittedly, after I had figured it out and bugged him about it for weeks.

He often spent our time trying to convince me to give James a chance before our seventh year, all of the time I had refused point blank, as he was still behaving like an arrogant toe-rag, and I kept arguing with him that his lycanthrope wouldn't interfere with a relationship with Mary, to which he gave no time of day. Yes, we were very determined people.

But we had laughed together about Sirius and Nikki continually denying their feelings for each other and we discussed school work and books and our favourite muggle movies (because he was a half-blood).

He was one of my best friends for years, and now I had him back and I couldn't be happier. Though, I knew for sure that James and Sirius are overjoyed, even more then I was, to have their fellow Marauder back because I didn't think that they had looked so happy for years.

We eventually made the long walk back to Sirius's house and sat down once again around the table. Sirius, James and Remus couldn't seem to wipe the grins off their faces, and I had to smile with them.

"So…what were we saying before we were rudely interrupted by Moony here?" Sirius said.

Remus rolled his eyes, "Sorry for my inappropriate timing, Padfoot. Remind me to schedule my death for a more convenient time for you next time."

Sirius grinned, "Sure will. Thanks Remmy ol' pal."

Remus sighed and moved his arm towards Sirius, but James said, "Ooh! Please Moony, let me have the honour! I haven't done it for a while."

When Remus laughed and said, "Be my guest." James smiled and leaned over to hit Sirius over the head. I couldn't help but laugh with Remus and Nikki as Sirius pouted and rubbed his head. The amount of times I had seen that in seventh year…

"ANYWAY!" Fred said loudly, to get everyone's attention, "We were talking about the battle, before the next victim arrived."

"That's right!" James said, "We were talking about how Ginny had just arrived to fight. You were there, weren't you Moony? What happened after that?"

He frowned, thinking it over, "Um, well Harry went with Luna to the Ravenclaw Tower to see if he could find whatever he was looking for…" I couldn't help but nod. So Harry knew that the next Horcrux was Ravenclaw's. I wondered if he had found the rest of them. "Then when he came back, he announced that we were fighting, and we all went into the Great Hall to get organised. Then we fought."

"Was the battle and everything going…well?" I asked tentatively, "I mean, did we seem to be winning?"

"I don't really know, Lily." Remus sighed, "It was so hard to tell. It was dark, and there were flashes of light everywhere, spells being fired off at random. People were dropping, but I couldn't tell if they were our guys or not."

Sirius, Nikki, James and I nodded, understanding. We had been in similar fights ourselves before. But none to this standard.

"Not to mention the fact that there were giants stomping around the school, trying to tread on people and ripping apart the castle." Fred put in.

"Did you ever find out if—" Sirius started to say, but there was another _beep. _We all froze. I couldn't believe there was someone else we knew who was gone, so soon after Remus. I just hoped it was someone we didn't really care about too much. No one moved. I sighed, "Alright, I'll get it then." I stood up and went into the living room.

I looked up and stopped dead at the name on the screen. My heart sank. But not for myself this time, for Remus. I couldn't believe I had to break the news to him. At least now they are together…

I sighed again, feeling like I was bearing the worst news, and slowly walked back to everyone. It was quiet, and I could feel all their eyes on me. I looked up slowly at Remus, and he paled at the sight of my face. "Remus…I'm so sorry." I said.

He stood rather shakily, and walked past me into the living room, to look at the screen that held the name, which is likely to break his heart. I was right.

"NO!" came the scream from him. It hurt me to hear such a broken sound come from my friend's lips. He sprinted out of the room, looking heartbroken and ghostly pale, and ran straight out the front door. We all immediately followed behind him. Sirius ran up alongside me, "Who is it?" he huffed.

I just looked at him, "Who do you think it is? Can't you think of one person that Remus would be heartbroken to lose?"

"No," he replied almost immediately, frowning, "all I can think about are his friends, and we are here. Then there's Tonks…oh." He stopped running suddenly, and looked at me sadly. "Dora?"

I nodded. His eyes filled with tears at the thought of his cousin, and he started sprinting again with new found energy. He had always been a fast runner, and I was struggling to keep up. When we reached to the top of the hill, I could see a young woman standing there. Her hair seemed to be a mousy brown, and her shoulders were hunched. Remus was standing about 10 metres away, watching her, pain etched on his face. Sirius walked up to him quietly, and he murmured something in Remus's ear. When Remus nodded, Sirius gave him a light push forward and Remus walked slowly towards Tonks, who had still not looked up.

"Dora." Remus said quietly. Her head snapped up and she turned toward him. She gave a small, strangled cry at the sight of him, and propelled herself into his arms. He held her tight as she sobbed into his shoulder, new tears falling down his face.

I felt James come up and stand beside me, and take my hand, giving it a squeeze. I smiled up at him, through my slightly blurry eyes, and leaned into him. We both knew how Remus and Tonks were feeling right now, and they needed to lean on each other.

"Remus…Remus," she was muttered between sobs, "I-I'm so s-sorry. I couldn't stay b-back and wait for you. I'm so sorry."

"Shh, its okay Dora, it's alright." He murmured, stroking her hair, which had now turned platinum blonde, I noticed with interest. "I'm not mad, but why didn't you stay? I at least wanted Teddy to have one parent."

"I know. But how do you think I felt, sitting at home, not knowing if you would ever c-come home…I had to know, I had to fight." She broke down again. "I can't believe you're here."

"I know, but it's alright." Remus repeated.

"I love you." She muttered quietly, and he looked down at her, smiling slightly and gave her a gentle kiss.

"I love you too, Dora, and at least now we are together. I wouldn't have come home anyway. And it's not like Teddy will be alone. He will have your mum, and Harry, and Hermione, and all the Weasleys…well, not all the Weasleys…"

She lifted her head to look at him with her tear-streaked face, "What do you mean?"

Remus pointed towards us, to Fred who was stepping forward. She followed his gaze and when she saw Fred she ran to him and embraced him, new tears flowing. "Hi Tonks." He said quietly.

"Oh no…Fred. I can't believe…not you too…" she sobbed.

"I know. But I died for the same reason you did. For Harry and for the down fall of Voldemort. At least we died with dignity and fast, not like dying slowly like suffocating from many sprouted limbs or something."

She gave a shaky laugh and wiped her eyes as Remus came up behind her, "You might not want to bother wiping your eyes, Dora," he said, "someone else is here to see you."

Sirius grinned and grabbed her from behind. She shrieked, but when she saw who it was, she gasped and yelled, "Sirius!" turning and wrapping her arms around his neck. "It's so good to see you." She muttered.

"You too, Dora." He said, "And may I say that I couldn't imagine you leaving earth in any other way, then in a duel with Death Eaters. It's destiny for a feisty Auror like you."

She laughed and said, "I guess so. And really, who better to kill me then our own damned cousin?"

"Bellatrix?" Sirius hissed.

"You're good."

"I'm so sorry, Dora. I know what it is like to die at the hands of a hated cousin, in fact, that very same one." He said, hugging her again.

"Thanks Sirius, but it's alright. She loved it though, I bet. She always wanted to get me in the end. But I'm okay." She took a deep breath, as Remus came up beside her and took her hand. "I'm more then okay." She amended as she smiled up at him. Her hair turned bubblegum pink.

Sirius laughed, "I know the feeling. And you look much better when you have your normal hair back, babe."

She grinned at him, "Thanks, Sirius."

"Padfoot, don't you have someone to introduce to your cousin? I'm sure Dora would love to meet her." Remus asked, pointedly looking at Nikki, who was standing tentatively behind James and me, pointedly.

"Oh! Right." Sirius cleared his throat, pulling Nikki forward by the hand, "Nymphadora, this is my girlfriend Nikki, Nik this is my cousin Tonks."

"It's really nice to meet you." Nikki said.

"Likewise." Tonks agreed, "Sirius used to talk about you all the time when he was at school."

Nikki raised her eyebrows and looked at Sirius curiously, "He did, did he?"

"Oh sure. It's one of my fondest childhood memories; Sirius coming over and blabbing on about his gorgeous girlfriend." They laughed together looking at the embarrassed look on Sirius's face and I could tell that those two wouldn't have any trouble getting along.

"Dora," Remus said, "There are two other very special people who I would really like you to meet. I know you have always wanted to meet them, and they really want to meet you."

She looked at him questioningly, but let him lead her over to James and me. When she looked up and saw us, her eyes widened, and she smiled. "Dora, this is Lily and James Potter. Guys, this is my wife, Nymphadora Tonks."

"You're married?!" Sirius yelled, before James or I got the chance to speak.

Remus laughed, "Yes, Padfoot, we're married."

"Well, my belated congratulations." Sirius said, smiling, "Moony, you scoundrel, you never mentioned that you are married." He looked up at James, "Jamesie, can you believe it? Our Remmy is all grown up, married and all…" he sniffed dramatically, and wiped away a fake tear. Tonks giggled, and Remus gave a small chuckle, rolling his eyes. "I told you they would get together in the end."

James grinned, "Moony, I am quite offended that you neglected to tell us this incredibly important news sooner. We could have thrown you a bachelor party, seeing as we Marauders are famed for our parties."

I laughed, "Really? I always thought it was the pranks on the Slytherins and the huge egos."

"Not to mention stunning good looks!" Sirius threw in.

"Ah, yes. How could I forget the looks and charm?" I said sarcastically.

"Well, okay." James admitted, "The Marauders are famous for their cunning and genius pranks, their _well-sized_ egos"—he threw a pointed look at me—"for their dashing good looks, gentlemanly charm, AND for their fantastic parties." He frowned, looking at Remus, "is that it?"

"Pranks, egos, looks, charm, parties." Remus repeated, counting them off on each finger, "Yep, that's it."

"My work here is done." James smirked, "Now, Moony, about that bachelor party…"

I saw Nikki sigh and roll her eyes, "James, a bachelor party is for _before _the wedding. Not months after, especially if they are happily married."

"With a son." Tonks added.

"_What?!" _Sirius yelled, stunned, "A kid? You have a son?"

"Yes, Sirius, Teddy is about three months old now." Remus said in the same patient tone he had used on Sirius all through Hogwarts. "We named him after Dora's father."

"Aw, how cute!" I gushed, "Who does he look like?"

"I think he looks just like his daddy." Tonks said

"But, he's got your hair," Remus added, "and your nose."

"He sounds gorgeous." I sighed.

"Congratulations." James added.

"Thanks you guys." Remus grinned. "Maybe we should head back now? We don't want to stand here all night."

We all agreed, and started to head back, before James stopped and turned to Tonks. "Sorry, we never got properly introduced. James Potter." He extended his had with a smile.

Tonks laughed, and shook his hand, "Nymphadora Tonks. Actually, that's not right. It's now Nymphadora Lupin, but I hate my full name so you are welcome to call me Dora or Tonks, even though that doesn't work anymore."

"I'm Lily." I said, "It is wonderful to meet you. Especially since you have won our very own Mr Lupin's heart. We were very happy to hear that."

She grinned happily, "Thank you. It is so amazing to finally meet you both. You should be so proud of Harry. He has grown into a great man, I really do care for him and I have a lot of faith in him."

I smiled warmly at her. "Thank you very much. We have faith in him too."

"And we are so proud, you can't imagine." James said.

"Well I now know how you too must have felt at first, having your young son down on earth, when you are up here. It is heartbreaking. I will never see Teddy grow up or go to Hogwarts…" her eyes started to fill.

"It's alright." I said, "You are still with them, in your heart. And there are different ways to find out his progress and everything, we can explain all that later. And Teddy will have your mother, and Harry and the Weasleys and they will all take care of him."

"You're right, I guess." She smiled, "Thanks, I just can't help but worry."

"I know exactly what you mean, but you will see him again someday." I said.

She opened her mouth to say something else, but then there came a yell, "DORA!"

"DADDY!" she shouted, running and hugging the man that was running towards us. They stood there, having a quiet reunion for several minutes, as we all hovered, not wanting to intrude on their private talk. Eventually, both teary-eyed, they walked over to us.

"Remus, my good man." Ted Tonks said, extending a hand to Remus, "Good to see you are taking care of my girl, wherever you are."

Remus smiled dryly, "Of course Ted, I just didn't take good enough care of her to still be on earth with her."

"Don't worry, as long as you are happy, it doesn't matter where you are." Ted said.

"Thanks, Ted." Remus said.

"I was out for dinner, that's why I only just realised that you were here." Ted continued, "I came home, and you were both on the screen and I came as quick as I could. I wanted to ask you both something, if you could come back to my place. You can come too, Fred, you might know. It won't take too long."

"Of course, Dad." Tonks said at the same time as Fred nodded. She looked at Remus, who turned to us.

"See you guys soon?" he said.

"Sure." Nikki said, "Hurry back, dears!"

They laughed and headed off. "So, back to your place then?" Sirius said, turning to me and James, "I'm scared if we go to mine, someone else will pop up and we will come running out again."

We laughed, "Alright Siri," I said, "But no jumping on our bed."

"Awww, Lilyflower!"

* * *

We had all just settled at the kitchen table, but of course, there was a sharp _beep! _

"Oh no…" we all groaned together.

"I'll go." James volunteered. He stood up and went into the living room. A few seconds later there came a "huh."

"Who is it, James?" I yelled into the room. I really couldn't be bothered to get up.

"It's Snape!" he called back. "Murdered! Serves him right, bloody Death Eater."

Sirius nodded, but I was secretly glad that they weren't cheering or something. They had never liked Snape, but obviously they were good enough guys to not be happy that some one has died. Unless it's Voldemort of course.

James walked back into the room and sat down again. I found that I did feel slightly sad that Snape was dead. He had been my best friend up until fifth year, and after that I grew to dislike him more and more. But he had been a good friend to me, and I never forgot that. "Just because he was a Death Eater, James, doesn't mean that he can be treated like a monster." I said.

They both just stared at me blankly. "Lily, DEATH EATER." Sirius said, "He is a killer, and a follower of a killer, so really, he is a monster."

James nodded, "A really slimey monster." He added, and he and Sirius shared a smirk, obviously reliving all their past pranks on the poor boy.

Nikki and I looked at each other significantly. We had heard this so many times that it really didn't affect us anymore. Nikki didn't like Snape anymore then James or Sirius, having had some bad experiences with him and his Slytherin friends, but she knew where I was coming from and didn't side with either parties.

I sighed and gave up trying. At least for that moment.

There was silence. Which dragged on for several minutes.

"Soooo….."

"Soooo…"

"Soooo…"

They all looked at me. I sighed, "Soooo…" They grinned. I sighed again. Sometimes they can be so immature.

Silence.

"What do you think is happening now?" I couldn't help but ask.

"I don't know Lils," James frowned, "hopefully, it's almost over. I don't think I can stand waiting any longer."

"Me either! I'm bored!" Sirius moaned. As if in response to his complaint, there was a knock on the door. We all frowned at each other. That was out of the ordinary, at least for tonight. Who would be at the door? We weren't aware of having any visitors and Remus, Tonks and Fred only left with Ted Tonks about 5 minutes ago. They wouldn't be back so soon. None of us moved.

_Knock knock._

Both of the men look at me expectantly, I looked at Nikki for help, but she just grinned and indicated with her head that I should answer it. I rolled my eyes again and stood up, then started to walk slowly toward the door.

_KNOCK, KNOCK._

_Okay, okay, don't get your wand in a knot,_ I thought as I pulled open the door. I looked up at the familiar face behind it and froze.

The visitor looked up at me from between his curtains of black hair. He stared at me, tears filling his black eyes and a little bit of colour rose in is pasty cheeks. Not only had I frozen from the sight of him because he was the last person I have expected to turn up on my doorstep in Above, just the sight of his eyes full of tears was new to me.

Even after 7 years at school with him, I never have seen him cry. But as I watched the tears overflow, I still couldn't find my voice. I heard footsteps come up behind me, and I then I heard Nikki gasp.

"Lily…"

Only when I heard him say my name, did it snap me out of my shock.

"What are you doing here, Snape?"

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**A/N: Sorry!! i know i did the cliffie again! Just to warn you, it will probably happen for most of the next chapters. We only have few left, but i seem to have a habit to do it, so sorry! i don't purposely do it, i promise! **

**So Tonks is here. Yay! And Snape has just turned up on Lily's doorstep. What in the world is going to happen next? *sits on the edge of seat* haha you'll have to wait until next time. Which will be soon, i promise! i will update the rest of the chapters every second day, or even everyday if you're lucky! the amount of updates will decide, so push that button!  
gj x **


	15. Unexpected Visitor

**A/N: THANK YOU SO MUCH for all the wonderful reviews!! I'm way over 300 now and for that i am amazed. I LOVE YOU ALL!!**

**Now I know you were all very excited for this chapter! Let's see just what James will do when he finds out the truth! So here we go...**

**

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14- Unexpected Visitor**

**JAMES**

I was laughing with Sirius in my kitchen, the best room in the house apart from the bedroom, happy as larry, because I had all the (good) Marauders back in my life, when I suddenly thought about how Lily had gone to answer the door, Nikki not far behind and they hadn't come back to join us yet.

"Hey Padfoot?"

"Hey Prongs."

"Don't you think Lily and Nik have been gone a while? I mean how long does it take to answer a door?"

He frowned, "You're right, my antlered friend. Should we go see who it is? It is your house after all, and you have to be a gracious host to what ever slimeball comes in, and perhaps hits on your woman."

I rolled my eyes, knowing that he was kidding, but I still couldn't help but feel defensive about Lily. Hey, it was a habit.

I hit him on the arm as I got up and headed to the door. As I walked down the hallway, I saw Lily still standing at the open door, Nikki behind her, her arms crossed angrily with our guest in front of them. Only when I saw who our guest was, did I stop dead.

"Jamesie," Sirius sang obnoxiously as he walked up behind me, "who's at the—oh."

Our unexpected and extremely uninvited guest looked up then, once Sirius had announced our presence. I locked eyes with him, and glared.

"When I said slimeball, James, I had no idea that it would be so accurate." Sirius said quietly, dislike strong in his voice. I ignored him and continued glaring.

There was a strained silence, until Lily said, in a slightly shaky voice, "I'm going to ask you for the third and final time, Snape. What are you doing here?"

He ignored her and continued to stare at me hard. Sirius then said loudly, "Oi greaseball! She's talking to you!" When Snape didn't answer, Sirius yelled, "What the hell are you doing here?!"

Only then did he break the contact with me and looked at Lily. He swallowed, suddenly seeming very nervous, "I-I wanted to come and see you. I…needed to see you. I just wasn't expecting such an audience." He added snidely.

I snorted, offended, "What? You were expecting that I wouldn't be here? You thought Lily would be here all on her own? I did die with her you know."

"James." Lily murmured quietly. She hated me talking like that to people rudely, even if it was Snivellus.

"No, Lils, James is right." Said Sirius, "I think that he didn't think about what he was doing, before he did it. You didn't realise that we would all be together did you, Snivelly? Did you not realise that even in death, we would still be friends? Now you got yourself in a rather sticky situation, I must say. And you have to explain your quite rude intrusion on our already rocky evening to all of us."

He folded his arms and stared at Snape, daring him to retaliate. I didn't know what I was expecting Snape to do, but what I wasn't expecting was for him to look at the ground humbly and almost whisper. "I came to see Lily, I-I wanted to t-tell her something, something that I never got to say before she…well, before. I know I have come on a bad night, and I am sorry for the people that have arrived tonight and I know what you are thinking. But you don't know the whole story—"

"No, that's where you're wrong, Snivellus." I said, walking slowly towards him, "Dumbledore has been a regular visitor here over the past year. You remember him right? The one you killed."

"James." Lily warned again. I ignored her, I was on a roll.

"Well, he told us all he knew about Harry, about our friends, and about you. We know you were the one that heard the prophecy, you were the one that relayed it back to Voldemort. And we don't care," I said, over the top of his protesting, "that you felt remorse for it, just the fact that you did it. That you are really the reason I am dead, the reason the Lily is dead, and the reason we are not with Harry, who is still down there fighting your Master."

"Really," I continued, "I knew that you hated me, and trust me, the feeling is mutual, but I would _never _pass along information that I knew would mean the end of life for someone. No matter whose life it was."

It was silent. Snape looked down at the floor, and didn't look up for several minutes. I was too mad to say anything, and Lily didn't seem inclined to speak, so no one did. Not until Sirius, evidently bored and uncomfortable with the tension, and sick of Snape showing regret said loudly, "Somebody say SOMETHING! And Snivelly, be a dear and look up, your hair is leaving grease stains on the carpet."

Snape's head snapped up, and his eyes flashed, "Well Black, even in death you can't think of any original insults. I expected a substantial improvement, but I see nothing has changed. What a pity."

Sirius laughed, "Finally! There's the Snivellus I know and hate. What are you going to do Snivelly? Give me a detention like you do the poor Gryffindors who were stuck with you as a teacher? Personally I would have rather have McGonagall for the whole day."

If I wasn't still angry, I would have laughed with Sirius, but I couldn't help but smile a little. Snape took a deep breath to calm himself, he evidently didn't want to fight with us tonight, but I on the other hand, was quite in the mood now for a bit of a duel.

"Look Snape," Nikki said, "Just tell Lily what you wanted to tell her, get it off your chest, and leave before you permanently stain the carpet. Plus, we have had a trying night and we are expecting more people to be back any minute."

"Yeah, that's right! Remus is here. My buddy Remus. Remember him Snape?" Sirius commented snidely, "He arrived tonight, thanks to your pals with the Mark. Oh, and his wife Tonks. They're both here! And their baby boy is still back at home. Remind you of anyone?" I know Lily hated it, but I couldn't help be rather impressed with Sirius's jeering. Seems it had been building up in him quite solidly over the last few years, and now he could just let it all out. "So we are quite happy that the third Marauder has joined us. He should be here soon. He was rather good at the insults, if you remember. Maybe you'll get lucky and he'll honour you with some tonight! Wouldn't that be a hoot!"

I laughed, feeling the need to join my mate in his little game. I easily fell back into the old school pattern, "That would be fun, Padfoot." I said, in a cheery tone, "But, what would be more fun then seeing the expression on Snivelly's face when he sees Fred Weasley with Remus and Tonks. Oh look! There it is! Yes, that's right Snape, Fred is also here. You know, the really funny one? The one that is part of the Weasley family that Harry adores, like his own. Because he can't live with us, because we are up here, so he lives with his best mate occasionally, and the seven—whoops, I mean _six_ other Weasley kids."

"JAMES!" Lily yelled suddenly. "Stop it. Just stop, please? Shut up so that Snape can say whatever he came to say, then he can leave us in peace. You too Sirius, I don't want to hear another insult come out of your mouth."

Wisely, we did as we were told. I didn't want to push Lils too far, especially after such an emotional few hours. We all turned to look at Snape who was now staring at Lily with a look that seemed slightly familiar, but I couldn't think of what it was. There was a long moment of silence, in which Snape continued to stare until…

"NO!" Sirius and Nikki suddenly shouted together, making me jump.

"I can't believe this! You-you actually…" Nikki stuttered, to angry for words.

Sirius, on the other hand seemed to have no trouble getting words out, "You think you can just come into this house and say what you are about to say to James's _WIFE! _Get out!"

What? How did Sirius know what Snape was going to say?

"Sirius!" Lily yelled at him, clearly thinking along the same lines as me, "What are you talking about? What is going on?!" Sirius ignored her, glaring daggers at Snape.

"Mate," I said, "you can't just tell someone, even if it is a greasy lump like this one to get out of my house. It's MY house!"

He didn't answer, he was too focused on Snape, who hadn't moved an inch. Snape was facing Sirius defensively, his chin up, but I could tell that he was secretly regretting giving himself away, whatever it was that he gave away. "GET OUT!" Sirius shouted again.

"SIRIUS!" Lily and I yelled together.

He finally turned to us. "James, I can tell you now that Nik and I know exactly what Snape is going to say. For years and years I saw that look in someone else's eyes, looking at the very same person. I watched it grow everyday. You're not going to like this one bit, Prongs. I am telling him to get out now, because you will probably want to kill him. Not that I would mind so much if you did, but I'm trying to save you the energy."

"What?" Lily said, then she shook her head. "Sirius, shut up. If Snape is going to tell me, he has to tell me himself." She turned and looked at him expectantly.

He looked back at her hesitantly. "As I said before, I wasn't really expecting an audience, I wanted to tell you privately. They don't need to know."

Nikki laughed darkly, "No, trust me, James needs to know."

Sirius nodded, "And if you didn't say what you are about to say in front of him, I would tell him. And you knowthat I know what you are about to say." I had no idea what he was talking about, but evidently Snape did because he paled slightly as Sirius continued, "And also, if I told him, I would miss out on the enjoyment of watching him try to kill you."

"Fine." Snape grumbled, and I was suddenly nervous about what he was going to say. I waited anxiously as he turned back to face Lily. "Lily…" he said quietly, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you this sooner. I really wanted to, but after we weren't friends, I didn't get to see you as often, and then you married _him,_" He shot a glare at me, "and then I did something I regretted for the rest of my life, and I still regret doing now. Never in the entire world did I think that the Dark Lord would go after you and your son. When I found out he was, I tried to stop him, I really did. But he wouldn't listen, then Dumbledore tried to save you, but that didn't work either. When I found out that you were gone, I just… I couldn't…" he looked down, and was quiet for a minute before he looked up at Lily again.

It was starting to dawn on me. How had I not noticed it when Sirius and Nikki did? That look, the way he stared at her…it was the same way I had stared at Lily for 7 years. _No...oh no. He doesn't—_

"I…I love you, Lily." Snape said quietly, "I always have and I'm sorry you had to find out now, after all the bad things you think I have done. But if you give me the chance to explain—"

"NO!" I roared, I couldn't think, couldn't see anything except a red haze of sudden fury. "You will not have a chance to explain! You have to get out of my house right now! Go on! GO!"

He didn't move, he just stared at me angrily, as if I had ruined a beautiful moment for him. I might have, but I really couldn't care less. I was so murderously mad, that _Snape _was in love with my wife. With Lily. _My _Lily. The girl that I had gone after for over 6 long years, and when I finally got her, I was the happiest man alive. There was no way that I was letting anybody come in and tell her that they loved her too. No one loved her like I did.

"I will give you 3 seconds to get out of my sight you greasy bastard!" I yelled when he hadn't moved.

He ignored me and turned back to Lily, only enraging me further. Maybe I was being a bit irrational, but I couldn't help it. I had always been defensive when it came to Lily, even when I wasn't officially with her. If a man even looked at her in a way that I didn't like, it would always make me mad. So when someone says that they _love _her. Well, you can imagine my level of anger…

"Lily, please listen to me." Snape pleaded, "After your death, I switched sides. I forever followed Dumbledore. I spied on Voldemort for him, I pretended to still be his follower so that I could relay information back to Dumbledore—"

"Just like you did with the prophecy, except the other way around!" Nikki cut in.

"No! That was a mistake that I will forever regret. Lily, please believe me. I promised Dumbledore that I would take care of Harry, for you. I made sure that he was safe and happy at school, I even—"

"You did not!" Sirius yelled. He was probably wondering why I still hadn't said anything, but I was so furious I couldn't speak. "You made his life hell!" Sirius continued, "He hated you! You hated him! You gave him detention on his QUIDDITCH _GRAND FINAL_ for Merlin's sake!"

Snape ignored him, "I helped him this year, when he was on his quest from Dumbledore. I showed him where the sword was. I helped him." He looked down again and he even had the _nerve _to take Lily's hand…which was when I snapped.

"That's IT!" I shouted. I ran at him, grabbing his cloak and shoving him against the wall so he was forced to look at me. I heard Lily scream and Nikki shriek and Sirius yell my name, but I was well past caring. "Now listen here, you slimy piece of shit." I hissed at him. "You do not come into _my_ house uninvited and expect to be treated like a guest. As far as I am concerned you are still a Death Eater and always will be. And you can't possibly think that you can just tell my _WIFE _that you love her, because there is no one in this world, including you, that could possibly love Lily more or even the same as I do. Now, I know what it is like to love someone who you can't have. I had to live through it for almost 7 years. But you better get used to it bloody fast, because she is mine and she always will be.

"You are never going to touch Lily again, do you understand? If you do, if you come within one hundred feet of her, I will personally beat you into a pulp. It may not have occurred to you, but the fact is that she married me, which means by some miracle, that she loves me back and I will _never_ let her go for anything." I thought that he would have realised that already because I never gave up on her, even after all that time, but obviously not.

"All this on top of the fact that one of my best friends has died tonight because of your master, not to mention 2 other people my son loves. I don't care if you are not a Death Eater anymore. I don't care if you haven't been for 17 years. You used to be." Snape managed to show some regret, but I was really past seeing it. "And as for everything you say you did for Harry. If it is true, then thank you. That is the only good thing you have said tonight, and if you have truly done some good things for Harry, then I have the decency to thank you. But really, I don't care about that right now. I want you to get away from me and my friends, stay _well away_ from my wife, and get the _fuck_ out of my house." I dropped him and turned away, running my hands through my hair in aggravation, taking deep breaths to try and calm myself.

When I turned back around, he was still standing there at the door, staring at me, but not leaving. "Is there too much grease in your ears?" I yelled, "GET OUT!"

He nodded and turned for the door, but Lily's voice stopped him, "Snape."

He turned back around slowly, hand still on the door knob. "Thank you for telling me everything." Lily said shyly, "Thank you for all you say you have done for Harry. It means a lot to me, and to James, though he doesn't really show it." She shot a look at me, "And as for the other thing…well, I must admit I am rather shocked, so it might take me a while to really process it."

He nodded again, and turned back for the door.

"And…Severus?" Lily called after him. He froze on the door step, obviously at the use of his first name, which she hadn't used since fifth year. "I'm sorry for your death. If Harry knew all you had done for him, I'm sure he would be very grateful."

"He will know." Snape muttered as he turned back to leave. Then he looked up at me, "If it makes you feel any better," he said, "Voldemort killed me. I was obviously no use to him anymore. Even _he _doesn't seem to think that Death Eaters are his forever." Then he shut the door behind him, leaving us with our thoughts.

Silence.

"Wow…" Sirius said, giving a low whistle, "That was…unexpected."

Nobody laughed, I didn't even give a smile, I was still glaring at the door, thinking about everything, or at least trying to through the haze of rage in my brain. Lily was quiet, and I could feel her watching me, but I didn't look over at her.

"James," she murmured, but I still didn't turn my head. Her tone worried me, it made me think that she was upset at me. So I didn't move.

"Uh, I think I will see if there is anything to eat." Sirius muttered quietly.

I heard him retreat swiftly, almost run, and there was another tense, silent moment, then Nikki said, "You know, I think I would like some tea." And she ran away from the scene that they thought we were going to create. They were worried that Lily and I would get in a huge screaming battle. But we wouldn't. I knew we wouldn't. I was tired, Lily was tired, and—even though I was still murderously enraged—we were both shocked about Snape's arrival and confession.

"James," Lily repeated, laying her hand on my arm. I sighed and looked over at her then. Her face was tired, but not as though she needed sleep, it as if she was worn out, like she had lived through a lifetime of events in one day. I knew the feeling.

"Lily, I'm sorry." I started to apologize immediately, "I know I shouldn't have acted the way I did, but I couldn't help it. Just the fact that he would even say those things to you, in my house, I just got mad, because nobody would ever—"

"Shhh, honey it's okay." Lily sighed, putting her fingers to my lips to stop my rambling. "I forgive you."

"You do?" I mumbled against her hand.

She smiled, and moved her hand from my lips, to my cheek. "Yeah I do. You shouldn't have overreacted like that, but I know that there is a lot of bad blood between you and Snape, and I know that played a part."

"You are the most incredible person, you know that, right?"

She rolled her eyes, but blushed slightly. "Thanks James, but I'm just exhausted. I want to go to bed. I want this night to end, and I don't want anymore people we love to arrive here. There have been enough deaths already."

I nodded solemnly, "I know, but I have a feeling it may be over soon. It's alright," I said, when I saw that her eyes started to fill with tears, and I wrapped an arm around her, brushing her long hair away from her face with my free hand. "Everything's going to be fine."

"I know," she sniffed, "but I just can't help but worry about him. What if something happens, and another one of his friends die? What if it's Ron or Hermione? Or Ginny? What if he can't kill Voldemort? What if–"

"Hey, where did all these 'what ifs' come from?"

"I don't know, I just worry, I can't help it."

I smiled, "It's okay to worry. I'm worried too. It's natural for parents to worry about their kids. But you just have to have faith in him. And try not to let the 'what ifs' enter your mind."

"Thanks James. You're an incredible person too, you know."

"I know." I puffed out my chest proudly.

She laughed quietly, and I smiled, loving the fact that I could still make her laugh even when she is stressed and tired beyond her limits. "Lils," I said quietly, needing to get it off my chest, "I know you said that you forgive me, but I just want you to know that I really am sorry for the way I acted.—No, no let me finish—I can't help but act irrationally when someone tries to hurt you, or take you away from me somehow, it's an automatic reaction. And I know you don't like it, but it's really just a very strange way of me showing how much I love you." I smiled at her, "Because, if waiting and chasing you for 6 years has taught me anything, it's that you are the only person for me, and I really would do anything for you. Even yell at you and antagonize you so that I could get you to talk to me." I laughed.

She laughed with me gently. "Thank you, James." She murmured, leaning in and putting her head on my shoulder. I wrapped my arms tightly around her, and it made me feel so much better. "For everything. For protecting me and for defending me, even when I don't want it or need it. And thank you for not giving up on me for those years, because eventually I came to see what a great guy you are, and I let you finally catch me." She looked up and me and smiled. "And I love you too. So, so much. I did marry you, you know, and that has got to mean something."

I laughed softly, hugging her tighter. "It does, Lilyflower. It means the whole world."

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**A/N: Ok so i know that some of you won't be happy about the unresolved ending with Snape and some might be mad that James didn't get to beat him up properly, but whatever you're opinion, i bet you're happy that Lily and James are still together. Right? RIGHT? if you aren't, i might have to hunt you down.**

**The next chapter, a few of you will be surprised at, i think. You really shouldn't be but that's what happened last time i posted this story so i'll see what you guys think of it.  
Did you think Snape got off too easy? Or did you want a calmer reunion? i would love to hear your opinions! **


	16. Journey

**A/N: aren't you impressed with my updating!! it's a little bitter sweet because i really want to update it all and find out what you think of the ending (which isn't that far off, by the way) but i don't want to finish because i love coming home to find more lovely reviews for me! it really makes my day. Also, this story has been a big part of my life and i don't really want to let that go.  
****But, anyway, i'll get more sentimental at the end of the epilogue, so keep some tissues for that! :P**

**All of you had different opinions on the last chapter, which was really interesting! some of you think he got off too easily and would have liked a bit of fist fighting, but others just wanted a civil, forgiving conversation. If that's you, or if you are interested, make sure you check out my related chapters in _Above's Missing Pieces_ because there is a chapter in there with Snape and Lily and James.**

**So i've rambled for long enough, lets get to the chapter! some of you have guessed what was going to happen already, but some haven't so hope you like it!!**

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**15- Journey**

**JAMES**

"Welcome back, guys!" I said grandly, holding the door for them as they walked back into the house.

"Thanks Prongs," Remus chuckled, "When did you suddenly learn manners?"

"Hardy har har, Moony."

"What did Ted want?" Lily asked as we all sat down in the living room.

"He wanted to ask us how we thought the battle was going and how Harry was doing. He didn't want to say it in front of you guys because he didn't want to make you upset." Fred explained.

"He also wanted to know if we knew whether Harry had found what he was looking for," Tonks added, "Whatever that is."

There was an uncomfortable silence and Lily, Nikki, Sirius and I all looked down, avoiding their eyes. Before Fred gasped, "That's right! You guys know what he was looking for! Dumbledore told you."

"_What?" _Remus and Tonks burst out.

"He told you?" Remus asked incredulously, in a tone that made me feel slightly offended. "He told you what Harry was looking for?"

We nodded, "He told us everything." I said, "He told us all about the mission Harry was on this year, what he was looking for, and…" I took a deep breath, "and what has to happen in the end."

Tonks gasped, "Will he have to die?"

"No, no," Fred said instantly, "Harry wouldn't have to die. He would never do that. Not if it would hurt Ron and Hermione, Ginny…my family. He wouldn't do it."

"He would if it would kill Voldemort and stop the war." Remus disagreed.

"Harry doesn't have to _die, _exactly…" Sirius said slowly, before saying in a big rush, "He just has to let Voldemort use Avada Kedavra on him, without defending himself so that he can finally have a proper chance of killing Voldemort."

There was a stunned silence. The three of them stared incomprehensively at us.

"I-If Harry doesn't defend himself, the…curse that Voldemort unconsciously placed on him when he tried to kill him 16 years ago will be destroyed, but Harry himself will be unharmed. Only then can he try to get rid of Voldemort once and for all." Lily said.

"Curse?" Remus questioned.

"Yeah…that's the hard part to explain." I said hesitantly, "We will tell you all about it sometime, just not tonight I think. I'm too tired."

Lily, Nikki and Sirius nodded their agreement, and even though they would have preferred to know right away, the others agreed.

There was another long silence. Everyone lost in their own thoughts. The minutes passed slowly, but nobody said anything. My eyelids were starting to droop when Lily said, quite randomly, "How did Ginny take Harry leaving for months? I mean, they only just got together, and suddenly he has to go away. She wouldn't have been too happy, I'll bet."

Remus, Tonks and Fred all glanced at each other uneasily. "Well…no, she wasn't happy." Fred admitted. "But she was mostly upset because…well, Harry broke up with her."

"_WHAT?!" _Lily and Nikki shrieked so loudly that we had to cover our ears for a moment.

"He thought that he was putting her in danger, being with her. He thought that Voldemort would find out about them, and go after Ginny, and he cared for her too much for that to happen. So he broke up with her to keep her safe." Remus sighed, after we got our normal hearing back, "He's much too noble for his own good."

None of us responded. We were all staring dumbly at them, shocked.

"I'm going to kill him." Lily muttered, "Silly teenager, doesn't know how to hold on when someone amazing comes along."

"Boys." Nikki murmured quietly, "They can be so stupid."

"It's not like she didn't see it coming," Tonks argued. "She knew he would do it eventually, because she knew that he wouldn't rest until he had gotten rid of Voldemort. But still, it broke her heart." Tonks shook her head sadly, "She liked him for 6 years."

"And it's not like it kept her safe, anyway. She went to Hogwarts which was controlled by the Death Eaters, and she and Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood kind of rebelled and got in all sorts of trouble—"

"Hang on, Fred." Sirius interrupted, "they _rebelled_? Against the _Death Eaters_?" There was an unmistakable tone of admiration in his voice.

"How did they rebel?" I had to ask

Fred gave a short laugh, "They kind of brought back the old Dumbledore's Army group that Harry led two years ago; but obviously without Harry or Hermione or Ron this time. They went against what the Carrows and everything. Got in a lot of trouble for it too."

I knew I shouldn't have, but I felt a swelling of pride hearing that Harry had led a rebellious group while he was at school. Seems like he did have some of my personality after all.

"Anyway," Fred continued, "Luna was captured by the Death Eaters at Christmas and Ginny didn't go back after the Easter holidays, it just was that dangerous. From what I heard after that, Neville had to go into hiding from the Carrows and Snape because they were probably going to try and kill him."

"They _what?_" I yelled, "They were going to _kill _him? He's just a kid!"

"Harry's just a kid too," Tonks pointed out, "But kids have to survive a lot these days. The Death Eaters this year were incredibly harsh with the way they ran Hogwarts. They taught them that Muggles are dirty, made them learn Dark Arts, not Defence Against the Dark Arts…they even made kids practice the Cruciatus Curse on students in detention!"

Lily gasped and Nikki cut in then, looking absolutely horrified, "They tortured kids in detention? That's horrible! They can't do that!"

Remus chuckled darkly, "Nik, we are talking about a school run by Snape here. He could do anything he wanted, being a Death Eater and all." The dislike in his voice was plain, and I knew that Remus had taken it personally when Snape killed Dumbledore. Out of all the Marauders, Remus was the one that didn't absolutely hate Snape with a passion, but when he killed Dumbledore…

Sirius startled us by laughing loudly. He always did have very sudden mood swings. "Yeah well Snivellus can be full of surprises."

I couldn't help but grin. I was still furious about the whole Snape visit, but I felt better about it when I joked with Sirius. "Didn't you think Padfoot?" I said, "That he just had a knack for appearing at the most inconvenient times, in places you just wouldn't expect?"

Sirius laughed again, this time with Nikki joining in, and even Lily gave a smile.

"Okay, what is going on?" Remus said, eyeing our broad smiles warily.

Lily opened her mouth to explain, but was cut off by Sirius, who had his hand in the air and was waving it around madly while bouncing in his seat. He looked just like an over-enthusiastic school kid, who was bursting with the answer to a question. Kind of like Lily in those first few years at Hogwarts.

"Ooh ooh!" he bounced, "Can I say it? Can I? Pleeeeaase?"

Lily rolled her eyes, "Fine, Siri. If you must."

"Yay!"

He finally stopped waving his arm around and sat still, but keeping the huge grin on his face. "We had an extremely greasy visitor tonight!" he yelled.

Fred and Tonks still looked extremely confused, but Remus's eyes immediately widened in understanding and he shouted, "WHAT?"

Sirius nodded frantically, grinning like a maniac. "That's right, Moony. Our favourite little Slytherin paid us a little visit. He just missed us so!" Sirius said dramatically, putting his hand over his heart.

Remus seemed to be struggling with words, his eyes wide open in shock. "S-Snape came…here?"

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Fred and Tonks's mouths dropped open and they stared at us in shock. I couldn't help but laugh, and tease Moony a bit. "Exactly, Mr Lupin, excellent work. 10 points to Gryffindor!"

He struggled to contain a smile. Then Fred burst out, "Snape's _dead? _When? How?"

"His name came up on the screen a couple of minutes after you all went to go talk to Tonks's dad." Lily explained. "He was murdered. Turns out not all Death Eaters are spared by the Dark Lord."

"Voldemort killed him?" Tonks said, "Serves him right, double-crossing bastard."

"What did he want?" Remus asked.

"I told you already, Moony! He missed the Marauders. He was very disappointed to find that you weren't there though. But after I explained you would be back, he seemed to cheer up—"

"Oh shut up, Sirius." snapped Lily. "He…well, he wanted to see me. He wanted to…tell me something."

"What?" Tonks asked, "What could possibly be so important that he had to come and see you the night of his death? I didn't even know that he knew you, Lily."

"Yeah, he knew Lily," I said, "They were best friends until fifth year, when he called her a you-know-what. I was just as surprised as you are when he turned up here. Turns out that he had always wanted to be more then friends with Lily, he wanted to tell her that he—" I cut myself off by clamping my teeth together as another wave of fury washed over me.

"Oh," Remus suddenly said, understanding lighting his features. "Oh no…he didn't…"

"You know what he said?" Tonks asked, turning to her husband curiously and Fred leaned around her to look at Moony too.

He glanced at her, then at me, then at Lily. "I can guess. I knew about it at school, he wasn't very good at hiding it. I just didn't know that he still…well, obviously he did."

"Hang on, how is it that you noticed it at school and I didn't? Neither did Sirius, or Nikki, although they figured it out when Snape was here. How was I the last to know?" I whined

"Because, James." Nikki murmured, "The way he looked at Lily tonight, I had seen you look at her like that for 6 years. He stared at her just like you did. I recognised it instantly, because I had seen it everyday in your eyes."

Remus nodded in agreement. "Sirius didn't notice in school, because you both only saw the bad in him, you didn't care to notice him unless we were pranking him. And a lot of the time, you noticed him looking over at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall, and you thought he was looking at you, when he was really looking at Lily…"

"Will somebody _please _fill us in!" Fred yelled.

"Certainly, my fire-haired friend," Sirius said joyfully, "Snivelly stood in the hallway of this very house for an incredibly long time, perhaps waiting for the right moment, leaving grease stains on the carpet until he finally told Lily of…" he paused dramatically, "his undying love for her!"

Fred and Tonks gaped, and Sirius laughed, "I know! What a twist! It's just like in those muggle shows, what are they called? Soap Poparas? Sopa Operas? OW!" he frowned at me, and rubbed the back of his head. "Why'd you do that Prongs?"

I shrugged, "It was the only way to shut you up."

"And it's _Soap Operas_, Sirius." Lily said.

"So, let me get this straight." Said Fred slowly, "Snape arrived here about 5 minutes after we left,"—we nodded—"came in uninvited,"—we nodded again—"procrastinated for a while about what he came to say,"—more nodding—"then finally told Lily that he loved her."

We nodded once more. "Yup, that's about it." Sirius said, "Let me tell you, Lily was rather shocked, but James, well, didn't he react! He was not a happy chappy."

"Of course I wasn't!" I yelled, "One of the people I least like in the entire world turns up on my doorstep, in the middle of a very trying and emotional night, where my best friend was killed, as was two of the people my son loved dearly, and he confesses to be in love with my _wife_!"

"Jeez, I would be mad too." Fred muttered.

But Remus groaned, "T[ell me you didn't act too irrational James. You didn't curse him did you?"

"Moony! How dare you assume I would do such a thing! Of course I didn't curse him. I didn't even touch my wand."

He nodded, letting out the breath he was holding in relief, before Sirius added, "You didn't bother getting out your wand, Prongsie! You just decided to go and slam him into the wall."

"James! You shouldn't have done that!"

I rolled my eyes, "I know, Remus, it was irrational, I should have thought about it first blah blah blah. But I was so mad! How would you like it if I just randomly went to Tonks now," I turned to Tonks, and took her hand, looking into her eyes, "Oh, Nymphadora, how I love you! I always have and I always will!" And I gave her a lingering kiss on the cheek. Then I looked back at Remus, whose mouth was pressed into a thin line, "See! You know I am kidding, yet you still get mad."

He shook his head at me, "Fine, I see your point."

I grinned, victorious.

"Wow, you guys must be absolutely drained. I thought I was tired, but seems like you guys need a hell of a lot more sleep then I do!" Tonks mused.

"You got that right, cousin dearest. I am just waiting for Harry to kill Voldy then I will go straight to bed!"

Nikki rolled her eyes, "No you won't Sirius. You'll stay up and get drunk and party until 7 am and _then _you'll go to bed."

"Oh! That's right. I forgot about the celebratory party, I really must get that organised. Right! I have a stash of Firewhiskey in my house, I'll get that. Fred, you can get the fireworks, Rem you can get—"

But I didn't hear anymore of Sirius's rave planning because there was suddenly a flash of brilliant white light, and I was no longer sitting in my living room.

………………………………..

I blinked, my eyes getting used to the sudden darkness. When they had adjusted, I looked around and saw that I was in the Forbidden Forest, the familiar place of so many adventures at school.

I saw Lily beside me, not quite solid, but more then a ghost, she was smiling at something in front of her. On my left were Remus and Sirius, both looking as happy as I was to be back in our old environment. Looking forward, I had to catch my breath. Harry was standing in front of me, his back turned, holding what appeared to be a small stone in one hand, and his wand in the other.

We walked towards him, our feet making only the softest of noise on the leaf-covered floor. Harry turned around at the sound of our approach and his eyes widened, as small smile on his lips. He was exactly the same height as me, his hair sticking up in just the same way as mine always has and round glasses like mine perched on his nose. But they were dirty, cracked, and lopsided. On his cheek was a large cut, caked with dry blood, his hands were also covered in dirt and blood. This was the worst I had ever seen him, and it pained me to realise that these wounds were nothing to the emotional pain I knew he was feeling inside. They were the outcomes of this battle.

It suddenly hit me then that I knew what he was doing. He knew that he had to turn himself in. Somehow, he had found out that he had to go to Voldemort. But he didn't know that he didn't have to die. It would be so hard to walk towards your death, thinking that you only had a few minutes left, that your heartbeats were numbered. Just to even accept the fact that he was walking towards the end of his life, even to save the people he loved and to stop this horrible monster of a human. The amount of courage would be enormous, but I knew that he had it.

"You've been so brave." Lily said, echoing my thoughts, and anyone could hear the love in her voice. She was smiling so wide, so happy to see our son again. Harry stared at her in wonder, and it made me so sad to think that it was one of the only times he had seen us.

"You are nearly there," I said, "Very close. We are…" it was impossible to express my feelings with words, "so proud of you." I hoped that he would realise how proud that really was. It was almost painful, the fact that I couldn't touch him, or tell him just how much I was proud of him, how much I loved him.

"Does it hurt?" He blurted out, then seeming to regret it.

"Dying?" questioned Sirius, "Not at all. Quicker and easier then falling asleep."

"And he will want it to be quick, he wants it over." Said the ever-practical Moony, and we all knew that he was right.

"I didn't want you to die," Harry said, "any of you. I'm sorry…" I was sorry too, sorry that I never got to see him grow up into the brave and selfless man here in front of me now, we all were. He was looking at Remus now, pleading with him, "right after you'd had your son…Remus, I'm so sorry—"

"I'm sorry too." Remus admitted, stopping Harry, not wanting him to go on, "Sorry that I will never know him…but he will know why I died and I hope he will understand. I was trying to make a world in which he would live a happier life."

_Well said buddy, _I thought. At least Teddy would have someone to tell him about his parents. Harry had no one for his whole life.

A breeze seemed to come from deeper in the forest, and Harry turned towards it, then looked back at us. "You'll stay with me?"

"Until the very end." I promised. And I knew that he didn't put as much weight on that sentence as I did.

"They won't be able to see you?"

"We are part of you," said Sirius, "Invisible to everyone else." I don't know how he knew that, but it seemed to be right.

Harry took a deep breath and walked deeper into the Forest. We passed through a group of Dementors, but we were unharmed, the four of us seemed to act like Patronuses to Harry. Not that he needed us. He could do a pretty good one, so I'd been told. Though we were not touched, the Dementors chill seemed to get to him and he shivered, wrapping the cloak he was wearing around him tighter. It was only then I realised that he was wearing the Invisibility Cloak that had been mine, and my father's before me. I must not have noticed that he was invisible to everyone else because we could see him. But that would just be because we were a part of him. No one else could see us. Still, it was good to see the cloak serving its purpose well. It covered him entirely, but I knew that if he tried to fit more then just him under there, they would have to crouch. It was the same with me when I was at my last year at Hogwarts.

There was a soft thud and someone whispered something close by. Harry stopped and turned towards the sound. Lily, Remus, Sirius and I did the same.

"Someone there," came a rough whisper, "He's got an Invisibility Cloak. Could it be—?"

Then two cloaked figures stepped out from a nearby tree, holding their lit wands high, directly towards us, but they evidently couldn't see anything. When the lights shone on their faces, I recognised Yaxley and Dolohov. Anger rose in me like lava. Yaxley had attacked Lily and me once in the Christmas Holidays in our seventh year. And Dolohov and I had had our duels in the past as well. I heard a soft grumble from Remus as he stared at Dolohov menacingly and it was suddenly clear to me that Dolohov had been the one to cast that final spell on Moony.

"Definitely heard something." Yaxley muttered, "Animal, d'you reckon?"

"That headcase Hagrid kept a whole bunch of stuff in here," said Dolohov.

"Time's nearly up." Yaxley said, glancing down at his watch, "Potter's had his hour. He's not coming." That made me almost want to laugh, because Harry was standing right in front of him.

"And he was sure he'd come! He won't be happy."

"Better go back, find out what the plan is now."

The Death Eaters turned and headed deeper into the Forest. Harry followed them, knowing they would lead him to Voldemort, and we trailed after him. He glanced at Lily and me uneasily. Lily smiled at him, and I nodded. We knew he could do this.

We walked a little further, following Yaxley and Dolohov, until they stepped in to a clearing, a fire burning bright in the middle. Harry stopped just outside of it, so that he could still see what was going on. I noticed with a start that a couple of giants were standing by the scene, on the outskirts of the group. There was an enormous web spread on the trees above, and I realised that some sort of spider would have lived here. Judging by its web it would have been huge. But I didn't really want to think about that. I hated spiders.

Looking around the clearing, I saw Death Eaters huddled around the fire, some still wearing masks and hoods, others faces you could see. I noticed Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy, both looking stressed and scared, Lucius almost looking sick. I also recognised Crabbe and Goyle, Rowle and, with a feeling of disgust I noticed Fenrir Greyback was standing in the corner, licking his fingernails. I looked at Remus and saw his mouth strained, his eyes slightly narrowed, now glaring not at his killer at the werewolf that gave him the bite. Obviously, Remus had more enemies in death then he did when he was alive.

Voldemort was standing in the middle, his wand in his hands, all eyes on him. Bellatirx Lestrange was kneeling at his side, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sirius's fists ball up tightly.

When Dolohov and Yaxley walked into the clearing, Voldemort looked up. "No sign of him, my Lord." Dolohov said, seeming almost afraid to admit it.

Voldemort made no move to show that he had even heard. He just drew his wand between his long, white fingers.

"My Lord—" Bellatrix murmured, but Voldemort raised a hand to silence her. Then he looked up and spoke in his cold, high voice.

"I thought he would come. I expected him to come."

It was silent in the circle. Standing on the outskirts, still hidden by the trees, Harry pulled off the Invisibility Cloak and stuffed into his robes with his wand. His hands were shaking slightly, but I knew he would go through with it. He took a deep, slightly shaky breath as Voldemort said,

"I was, it seems…mistaken."

"You weren't." Harry said loudly and forcefully, stepping into the light, as the stone in his fingers fell to the ground. As soon as it had left his hand, there was a flash of white light, and Harry, Voldemort and the Forbidden Forest was gone.

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**A/N: As usual, i would LOVE to hear what you think!! was that what you expected? Press that button! gj x**


	17. Celebrations

**A/N: All of you were so desperate for this chapter and for me to update, so i have, and you can finally read it! (No cliffies here, i promise)**

**DISCLAIMER: It's not like you don't know: HP is not mine**

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**16- Celebrations**

**LILY**

The first things I saw when the living room once again came into view were Sirius and James, sitting across from me, blinking and looking around. Then Fred, Nikki and Tonks came into view.

"Remus, thank goodness you're alright!"

"Jeez guys, scare us to death why don't you!"

"What the hell is going on?"

I smiled at Nikki, "Sorry. That wasn't entirely expected."

"What happened? One minute, you were talking like usual, the next, you had completely blacked out on us! We didn't know what to do!" Fred said, "What happened?"

"We-we…we saw Harry." I managed to say, before the onslaught of tears. They cascaded down my cheeks and into my lap quietly. James quickly came over beside me and took my hand. Sirius sat on my other side and Remus, Tonks, Nikki and Fred crowded around us.

"Hey, Lils, it's alright." James murmured, "I know, I know it's hard, but you just have to have faith in him. He'll be fine."

"I know," I sobbed, "It's just the way it happens…one minute you're here, the next you're there and then you're right back h-here again."

"I know, I know," James replied, stroking my hair. "It's harsh. The way you can see him for such a short period of time, and you don't get a goodbye."

I nodded. "I'm so proud of him."

James smiled at me, unshed tears making his hazel eyes shine. "Me too."

"Me three." Sirius said from beside me. "I am incredibly proud to call him my godson. It was good to see him, though he did look a little bit worse for wear."

James, Remus and I nodded in agreement, and I frowned. I was shocked to find him looking so beaten and pained. But then again, they were having a battle, in the middle of a war. I really should have expected it, and I new that with anyone else, it wouldn't have been the hard to see. But with my son, it just felt like I knife through my heart to see him struggling and in so much pain.

"So….you saw Harry?" murmured Tonks slowly, "How is that possible?"

James frowned, "We don't really know. Usually there is some way to make the dead, not come back, but return in spirit, or…. I don't know. Tonight, he seemed to have some sort of stone…" the mention of the stone rang a dim bell in my head, but I couldn't put my finger on it exactly, "last time it was the connection between his wand and Voldemo—"

"Whoa, whoa, hold up there cowboy." Fred said, "There was a _last time_?"

We nodded, "It was before Sirius arrived, in Harry's fourth year. He was fighting Voldemort in that graveyard and their spells connected. Then everyone that Voldemort had killed seemed to come out of the point of connection." I explained, "It has a proper name, but I can't remember it for the life of me."

"That's not very like you, Lilyflower." Sirius teased.

I made a face at him.

"So the night in the grave yard was the wands connecting," Remus said, calculating it in his head, "And tonight there was that stone, whatever it was. How does a stone bring back—"

He was cut off by my gasp of shock. It had finally clicked. "The Resurrection Stone."

"What?"

They all looked at me as if I had gone mad. I shifted uncomfortably; I wasn't used to that look. James and Sirius were, but not me.

"The Resurrection Stone." I repeated, "It is one of the three Deathly Hallows." I ticked them off my fingers, "The Cloak of Invisibility, The Resurrection Stone and the Elder Wand."

"But aren't they just legends?" Nikki asked.

"Yeah, Lily, they're not real." Remus said, "They were written in a children's story. No one knows if they exist."

"I know, but how else does it fit? A stone that can bring back the dead? What other explanation do you have?"

Sirius chuckled, "She's got you there, Moony."

He ignored Sirius, "I don't know…" he still sounded unsure.

"Who cares!" Fred burst out, "The fact is that you four saw Harry tonight. What was he doing?"

"He was going to Voldemort." Sirius said grimly.

"He knew that he had to let Voldemort try to kill him," I said thickly, "He was in the Forbidden Forest."

"Wait, Voldemort wasn't even _fighting_?" Tonks shouted, jumping up in outrage.

"No, he was waiting for Harry." Remus answered, grabbing her hand soothingly and pulled her back down to the floor. "From what it sounded like, he had given Harry an hour to turn himself in, and the hour was up when Harry arrived. They almost thought that he hadn't come."

"But he was there," continued James, "He had the Cloak, and he revealed himself just before he dropped the Stone. Then we were back here."

There was a stunned silence from Tonks, Fred and Nikki.

Tears filled my eyes again as I said, "He was so brave." James gave me a gentle squeeze.

The others nodded. "It would have been incredibly hard to walk towards your death like he did." Remus agreed.

"He'd always been brave though." Fred said, "So courageous and selfless."

"Too damn selfless for his own good." Sirius chuckled, "Always putting other people before himself. He never did anything because _he _wanted to." He turned to stare at us accusingly, "It's your fault," he said to James and me, "It's the combination of both of you. Lily had always been incredibly selfless, and James is rather noble as well, so the combination of the both creates someone incredibly brave, noble, but also sometimes stupid."

Immediately we both began to protest.

"Harry's not stupid! Are you accusing me of being stupid?"

"Why am I only _rather _noble? I am an incredibly noble person!"

"Don't you dare say I am stupid, when _you _were the one who walked into the wall this morning, mister!"

"If I was only _rather _noble, I wouldn't be a stag, would I? Stags are very noble creatures."

"ALRIGHT! I'm sorry I opened my mouth."

"You should be." I stated smartly, glaring at him, "You know that your mouth is only good for stuffing huge amount of food in."

"True." Sirius admitted nodding, before a wicked smirk came across his face, "That's not all its good for though, Lily. Why don't we go upstairs and I can show you what I mean?" he waggled his eyebrows at me.

James and Remus both went to hit him over the head, but I got in there first.

SLAP!

"Ow ow OW!" He howled, rubbing his cheek, while James, Remus and Fred rolled around laughing, "That hurt! Someone so small should not be able to hit that hard."

I rolled my eyes, and tried to hide my smile. "You are such a baby."

"Nice hit, Lils."

"Impressive."

"You would have made a great beater."

"Oh, how I love my wife. She looks like an angel, cooks like a chef, but hits like a wrestler!" James said, hugging me tight. I glared at him, and he immediately moved away, "Please don't hit me, Lils."

"Awww, poor Siri," Nikki murmured, stroking his cheek. "You didn't deserve that, baby." He smiled at her and leant in for a kiss as she said, "You deserve a lot worse!" And she slapped him on the other cheek, making an even louder sound then mine, which I didn't think was humanly possible.

"SHIT!" he screamed, now holding his other cheek.

"That's for hitting on another, married woman while your _girlfriend_ is in the room, asshole!" Nikki huffed, but she looked rather proud of herself and I was sure I was not the only impressed one in the room.

"I must admit I did deserve that." Sirius muttered, still cursing as he rubbed his cheek, "But where did you learn to hit like that?"

"Now Siri, that information would come under the very long list of things you don't know, and never will." She winked at me, and I grinned at her, then looked at Sirius, who now had one large, noticeable red hand print on each cheek. He looked kind of like a clown.

"Why'd you hit me so hard?" he whined, "You never used to hit that hard at school."

I shrugged, "Oh well. Now everyone can see that not all girls fall for you charm Siri. Or maybe, some poor girl will see it, and take sympathy on you."

His eyes lit up. "Yeah! I can pretend I got beaten up."

"By girls?" Remus snickered, "Ones that only slapped you? C'mon Padfoot, you can do better then that. It just looks like you have had your cheeks attacked by some girl who was armed with a hell load of blusher."

Sirius opened his mouth for some sort of retaliation when the screen above our heads gave a loud _beep_!

My breath caught. I was afraid to look up, afraid of what name I might see there. Who could it be this time? Voldemort? Another of Harry's friends? Or Harry? My stomach gave a nervous twist as I took a deep breath and slowly raised my head to look at the name illuminated in the screen in burning red. I gasped again, but this time it was a happy one.

"YES!" Sirius yelled, loudly and joyfully, jumping to his feet and punching the air with his fist. I grinned and looked back at the screen. The name **BELLATRIX LESTRANGE **glared back at me.

"I have been avenged! Thank you, whoever killed my wretched cousin!" he yelled to the floor, attempting to yell to earth, "I am forever in your debt!"

I laughed with everyone else. I felt lighter, happier, all because of the only good news we had had all night. One of the Death Eaters was dead. Not only a Death Eater, the woman that Sirius had hated all his life. The one who killed him. The one who had almost killed me, the year after we had left Hogwarts. One of Voldemort's most loyal servants, was dead.

"I'll get the Firewhiskey!" Sirius yelled as he disappeared from the room. We all looked at each other, grinning like madmen. Tonks looked especially happy.

"I had never liked her." She said, "She was my aunty, but she was complete bitch who treated me like dirt, because I was the outcome of her sister's marriage to a muggle-born. Plus she killed me. Good riddance, I say."

Sirius came running back in then, carrying about 10 bottles of Firewhiskey.

I frowned, "Sirius, we are not going to drink all that."

"Sure we are. It's for celebratory purposes."

I just scowled at him, and he ignored me, handing out bottles to everyone else. When he got back to me, he held out the bottle. I shook my head.

"C'mon Lils, live a little. You love Firewhiskey." Sirius said, forcing the bottle into my hands.

"Well…okay, but only a little, you know what happens when I have too much."

He laughed, and nudged Remus, "Sure do. Remember that Moony? That wild party in seventh year, when our darling Lilyflower had a _wee _bit too much Firewhiskey and gave us all a drunken table dance!" he sighed wistfully, "That was a fun night."

I blushed, "That only happened once, and it will never happen again."

"Awww, Lilyyyy! You have to admit, you had fun. I'm sure Prongs would love for you to give him another lap dance."

James blushed slightly, and hit Sirius on the back of the head as I felt the heat in my cheeks rise further from the memory. "Sirius, I woke up the next day in _your _dormitory, which was scarring enough, not to mention the splitting headache."

The three Marauders looked at me, offended, "What was so wrong about our dorm?" James asked.

Sirius snorted, "It wasn't _your_ dorm in seventh year, remember Jamesie? You had abandoned us for the Heads Tower." James nodded. "But really," Sirius said, turning back to me, "What was so wrong with our room? Was it just to _Sirius _for you?" No one laughed, though he looked around at us expectantly, "Oh come on!" he huffed, disappointed at the reaction to his lame joke, "Wow, tough room."

"So what was so bad about it?" James persisted, ignoring Sirius.

"Gee, let me think. There was rotting food in the corner, clothes all over that floor and textbooks everywhere!"

"So?"

"That's not that bad, Lils." Remus said, "You should have seen it when—"

"Sirius had a girl with him, in his bed! Without clothes."

"Oh."

"_Excuse me?_" Nikki said glaring at Sirius with her hands on her hips, "You had a _what _in your _what _without _WHAT?"_

He backed away, "Please don't hit me again, Nik. It was after we broke up for that tiny amount of time, I was depressed that you dumped me and I got drunk and-and…I didn't mean to! Please forgive me!" he dropped to his knees dramatically.

She frowned at him, then looked at me, "_Was_ it when we were broken up?"

"Yes it was. That very night, in fact."

She thought about it for a minute, "That's okay then, I suppose. I do believe I slept with Chase Davis that night anyway."

"You WHAT?" Sirius yelled, looking murderous.

"Siri, calm down. I was depressed and drunk too. And it makes us even. Let's just pretend it never happened, okay?"

"Hmm, oh alright." He said, kissing her, but it was not exactly what you would call closed-mouth.

"Alright!" Fred yelled, "Can you too not show such mushy affection in the presence of this poor, lonely, yet completely good-looking bachelor?"

They broke apart as we all laughed. "Hey, Weasley, that reminds me." Sirius said, "seeing as you are single you could go out and—"

But there was another _beep _that echoed across the room, and again, butterflies bombarded my stomach. What if last time was just lucky? What if it was someone we cared for again? I locked eyes with Tonks, who was looking just as nervous as I was. At the same time, we looked up at the screen, and screamed.

**LORD VOLDEMORT **was shining down at us in blood red. There was a beat of silence, then the cheers started.

"YES!"

"HE DID IT! **HE DID IT!"**

"_Yes!"_

"Thank Merlin, it's over!!"

James and Sirius both shot up and started doing the Marauders victory dance, and after a moment, Remus joined in. Then they started chanting, in rhythm with the steps, "GO HARRY! GO HARRY! ITS OVER! ITS OVER!"

Tonks and Fred laughed at them, and I burst into tears. I couldn't help it. James noticed and stopped dancing, coming over to me, "Lils, why are you crying?"

"Because I'm so happy!" I sobbed, laughing through the tears. James laughed with me and pulled me into his arms tightly. "I'm so proud of him." I muttered against James's shirt.

He grinned down at me, and then kissed me passionately, "Me too, Lils, me too. I knew he could do it. It's the Potter blood. We can do anything."

I laughed again and rolled my eyes, breaking out of my husband's embrace to give Nikki and Tonks a hug.

Then there was a bang, out in the street. We all ran to the window, to see fireworks erupting and people flooding out of their houses and into the street. Sirius grinned at us.

"Well, I think it's time for my wild party. Don't you?"

* * *

James lay me down on the bed, and I groaned. "That has got to have been the longest night of my life."

James plopped down heavily beside me, "The longest night of you _afterlife _you mean." He grinned at me, and I couldn't contain a small laugh.

Then I sighed, "Can you really believe it's all over? I mean, now Voldemort's gone, its going to be so quiet. The war is over."

"I know," James agreed quietly, "And our son was the one to end it, and save the Wizarding World."

"Yeah." I smiled at James and he smiled back, and I knew we were both thinking about Harry and how proud we were of him. I just hoped he knew that. I hoped that he knew how much we loved him.

"Its going to be rather boring now, isn't it?" James said, after a long, comfortable silence.

"I really hope so." I said, before adding after a thought, "Of course, now Sirius is going to joke around more then ever I suppose. He's going to be too happy."

James chuckled quietly, "Yes, I guess it's not going to be too boring with Sirius around. It never is."

"And now Fred is added into the mix," I sighed, "It's nice that Sirius said Fred could have his house. I do think it is about time that he and Nikki officially moved in together don't you? But still, with them both together," I groaned, "It's going to be a nightmare!"

"Hey now, don't forget me and Moony, now Lilyflower. We _are_ Marauders you know, we do have lots of mischief left over from school and many tricks up our sleeves. In fact," he mused, "the spot is now open for a fourth Marauder. Maybe we should induct Fred…." He thought for a moment, "Nah, we are good with three."

I rolled my eyes at him, "You are so easily distracted."

"Yeah, I am, but you're not! Once you are thinking about something, it's impossible to get you to do anything else!"

"And is that a bad thing?"

He thought for a second. "Not really," he finally decided. "But it's only good for certain things."

I frowned at him, "Like what?"

"Hmm…like this." then he leaned in and kissed me. Damn it! Why did I have to marry such a good kisser? It takes all my self control to stop it. _Maybe I don't want to stop this time, _I thought as James wrapped his arms around me, pulling me closer and I let my fingers knot themselves in his hair.

But I knew I was tired, I knew that all I wanted to do was sleep. James ran his fingers down my spine lightly, and I gave a small shiver of pleasure. _But still…no. No. I'm tired. I don't want to do this. Not tonight._

I sighed and reluctantly pulled away. He blinked at me, confused.

"No." I said, "Not now. I'm tired. I just want to sleep."

He pouted, disappointed, and the expression was so adorable that I couldn't help but kiss him lightly on the lips.

"James, you proved your point. But I know you're tired as well. Let's just sleep."

"Fine." He grumbled, pulling off his glasses and putting them on the bedside table. We couldn't be bothered to get changed, so James just pulled the blanket over us as I switched out the lights. I felt his arms wrap around me, pulling him close to him and I snuggled into his chest, feeling so loved and safe.

He kissed the top of my head, "Night, love."

"Good night James."

Then I closed my eyes and almost instantly fell asleep. Completely happy and without a single worry in my head. It was the first time in sixteen years.

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**A/N: LAST CHAPTER BEFORE THE EPILOGUE!! *tear* haha just thought i'd let you all know! You probably would have guessed by the end of this chapter there wasn't much left in the story, but just in case. I got heaps of reviews for the last chapter accusing me of being mean because of the cliffhanger, but you should know by now that i have a habit of doing that. Aren't you just so glad that i also have a habit of updating very regularly??**

**I will update the next chapter hopefully tomorrow or the next day, so i hope you can all hold on 'til then. In the meantime, REVIEW!**


	18. Epilogue Part 1

**DISCLAIMER: I own Above and Nikki but not all the other characters or HP in general, which just makes me sad :(**

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**Epilogue Part 1**

There was havoc in the Potter house. James, Sirius and Remus were running around chasing Fred and George, trying to hex them and prank them and Merlin knows what else, and leaving a path of destruction behind them.

"Sirius! Watch the vase!" Lily yelled as Sirius came sprinting into the kitchen, almost knocking over Lily's favourite vase. She sighed, relaxing when he missed it, but the relief was only short lived. "JAMES POTTER! I DO NOT WANT ANY ANIMALS IN MY HOUSE, EVEN IF THEY ARE ANIMAGUS!"

She smiled when her husband transformed back into his human self, giving her an unhappy look before he ran off after George who had just jinxed Sirius into talking in an extremely high pitched voice, yelling. "Oi! Come back here you cheeky bugger! No one turns a Marauder into a little girl and gets away with it!"

"Go Prongs! Get him!" Sirius squeaked in his girly voice.

Lily shook her head in exasperation and walked back into the living room, making sure to put up a shield charm at the door as she went. She grinned wryly at Hermione's shocked look as she sat down. "This is almost a daily occurrence." She said.

"Really?"

"Oh yeah." Nikki, who was sitting next to Hermione replied, "It started happening occasionally after Harry defeated Voldemort because the three Marauders were finally back together. But after George arrived and joined forces with Fred, it got a lot worse."

Lily sighed, "If I didn't love them so much I would have to kill them."

"Me too." Tonks laughed from beside her.

Hermione giggled. "I'm just surprised that they can keep coming up with different pranks and spells."

"Well, they may not act like it a lot of the time, but James and Sirius are actually really quite smart." Lily said.

Hermione nodded in understanding. "It's the same with the Weasleys. Fred and George only got 6 OWL's together but they can come up with all sorts of candy and fireworks and pranks. It never ceases to amaze me."

Nikki laughed. "I think it is a male thing."

"Well that's really the same with Ron as well." Hermione continued, "He can be really creative and smart when he puts his mind to it, he just has to get past the obstacles first." She smiled, "At school, he just didn't have the self confidence to even try."

"Really?"

"Sure, Lily. You didn't see him when he was younger." Tonks put in. "He didn't have the confidence to do a lot of things. Like really think, or…ask Hermione out!"

They all laughed, "Yes it did take him a while to show that he cared for me more then a friend." Hermione admitted, "But I think one of the reasons was because he was best friends with Harry. Harry was always doing great things and getting all the attention."

"What was the thing he was least confident at then?" Nikki asked, "More then schoolwork, anyway?"

Hermione thought for a bit before saying, "I think Quidditch was one of the main things. When he first started as keeper in sixth year, he was so nervous every game, he didn't play to his full potential. Harry was so desperate to have Ron play well, that he even pretended to give him some Felix Felicis so that he felt lucky and could play well."

Lily laughed, "Did it work?"

"Yeah it worked." Hermione giggled, "When Harry told him that he actually hadn't put any potion in Ron's drink, I think that's when Ron realised he could actually do it."

"Well, he doesn't seem to be under confident now." Lily said.

Hermione smiled, "No. Now he just lets people work him up too easily."

Just then they heard the front door bang open and the said person walked in, accompanied by Mr and Mrs Weasley. They stopped in the door way, looking around warily, obviously watching for an incoming prank, before quickly crossing to the living room.

Hermione, Nikki, Lily and Tonks listened to Ron talking to his parents as they approached, "…you don't really know him that well! Of course he was surprised to see you."

"But I do know him." Molly said indignantly, "You were friends with him all through school, and his grandmother is a very nice lady—"

"Yes, but you don't know him well enough to turn up at his house! He was just expecting me! If you really knew him, you would have realised that Neville isn't really into being the centre of attention, like the way you acted!"

Hermione threw a look at Lily and Tonks across from her that said, "My point exactly." They smiled.

When he reached the doorway, Ron attempted to walk in, but he was bounced back. "Hey!" he yelled, waving to the three women in the room. "Can you drop the shield, please?"

"Oh! Sorry." Lily said, waving her wand and the three Weasleys could walk in and sit down, before putting it back up again.

"So how is Neville?" Hermione asked as he husband sat down heavily next to her.

"Well, you know, as good as can be expected." Ron replied, "I mean he just arrived yesterday, and his wife hasn't died yet but he is happy to be with his parents. He finally has a chance to get to know them properly." They all nodded, and Lily couldn't help but feel a little bit jealous of Alice and Frank, who could talk to their boy.

"But they weren't there when I arrived and I think he was happy to see some other people," Ron continued, "until Mum turned up and embarrassed him to no end."

"I was just being friendly." Mrs Weasley retorted.

"Molly, let it go." Arthur advised, and she huffed unhappily. Then wild, loud cheering could be heard through the shield.

They all looked towards the noise as Lily muttered, "I should have made it sound proof as well as idiot proof."

The Marauders suddenly appeared sliding down the stair rail looked unhappy. Sirius was looking stressed and kept touching his hair as the three of them walked towards the others sitting down, only to be thrown back by the shield.

"Lilyyyy!" wailed James, "You put up a shield again? We're not that bad!"

"I beg to differ!" she yelled back. He pouted unhappily.

"Lils, please let us in." Remus said in a defeated voice, "It's over."

"Fine." Lily sighed and waved the shield charm away.

"Thank you, my dearest flower." James sang as he came and sat next to her, and tried to give her a hug.

"Ew James! You're all gross. Go take a shower!"

"Awww but that means getting up again! Oh, I know!" James pulled out his wand and waved it all over himself, muttering quietly. "There! All clean."

"You might be clean, James but I am not giving you a hug just yet. I'm still mad you were running though my house, destroying it, again! Next time, you go to Nikki and Sirius's place."

"Okay," James grumbled and Nikki glared at her best friend in annoyance.

"So, who won?" Mr Weasley asked.

"Fred and George." Remus muttered, shooting an irritated look at his fellow Marauder, "Sirius gave in and forfeited us!"

"They were playing dirty! I was not going to dignify them with a challenge when they won't even do it properly! You can't purposely try to kill someone, it's against the rules!" Sirius cried plopping down on the floor in front of Nikki and leaning on her legs.

"Padfoot, your hair caught on fire from one of their fireworks!" James said, "That is not purposely trying to kill you."

"It is too! You know that my hair is important to me, Prongs. It is the source of my good-lookingness."

Remus rolled his eyes, "It obviously also covers the big hole in your head where your brain should be. Good-lookingness isn't a word, Sirius."

"So?"

"So you can't just make up words Padfoot!"

"Why not?"

Remus struggled to find a proper answer, "You just can't!"

"Can too!"

"Can not!"

"Can too!"

"Can not!"

"Can too!"

"STOP!" James shouted, "Moony, don't stoop to his level, you'll never be able to bend that far down."

Everyone laughed as Sirius said, "Hey! That's not very nice." James just smirked at him and Nikki laughed and stroked his hair. Then Fred and George strolled in, hands in their pockets, huge grins on their faces.

"Hello, hello. Isn't it a lovely day?" George said.

Hermione opened her mouth to answer but Sirius cut her off, "DON'T answer, Hermione! I thought that you were smart enough to realise that it is some kind of conspiracy."

Fred and George rolled their eyes, while Hermione was offended, "Sirius, it's not a conspiracy, it was a simple question." He ignored her and continued to glare at the twins.

"We're sorry that your hair caught on fire Sirius, but it wasn't our fault." Fred said, "You should know not to stand too close to a firework."

"Especially one of ours." George put in.

Sirius jumped up. "Rematch. Kitchen. Now. C'mon Prongs, Moony."

James groaned, "Not now Sirius, I'm too tired."

"Yeah, I don't think that is such a good time Pad." Remus said.

"Why not? Now is a perfect time. No time like the present."

"No, Sirius. We can do it tomorrow, at your place. If we had a rematch now, and here Lily would kill us, or at least slap us, and you don't want that now, do you?" James said.

Sirius gulped loudly and looked at Lily who was staring at him menacingly and nodding. "Fine, then." He gave in. "But tomorrow! My place, 10 o'clock." He stared at Fred and George with narrowed eyes. "Be there or be rectangle!"

Ron and Hermione frowned at the others, but they shook their heads.

"Just ignore him, you guys." Remus advised quietly, "We usually do."

"Moony's right." James laughed, looking at Hermione and Ron "You two have only been here for less then a month, you aren't really used to Sirius like this."

"But I'm always like this!"

"Exactly."

Everyone laughed as James and Sirius continued bickering like little children. Ron and Hermione looked on with interest. Having only arrived less then a month ago about two weeks apart, they had both found a huge crowd out to greet them. Apparently, everyone in Above knew how they were Harry Potters best friends and they had come out to shake their hands, thank them, ask how Harry was etcetera… plus they still weren't used to sitting across from Lily and James Potter.

Lily and James had been extraordinarily happy to see their son's best friends and had bombarded them with questions. Ron and Hermione were also amazed to finally meet Harry's parents, and the first two weeks after their arrival was spent swapping stories and telling Lily and James everything they could think of about Harry. Even now, sitting with them and hearing James and Sirius fight so casually and see the real Marauders in action. It was all rather overwhelming.

"STOP!" Lily yelled to James and Sirius both after a while of them bickering. "Stop fighting like four year olds or I will come over there and hit you both, understand?"

They both fell quiet instantly, looking rather scared. She smiled in satisfaction and then looked up and winked at Mrs Weasley, who was trying to hide a smile.

Hermione leaned over Ron to whisper to Nikki, "Why do they always seem so scared when Lily threatens to hit them?"

She laughed quietly, "Well, a long while ago, I think it was the night Voldemort fell, Sirius was being rather stupid or more so then usual, and sort of hitting on Lily, so she slapped him, _really_ hard. Not to mention the fact that he was my boyfriend, and he was flirting with my best friend, so I was obligated to slap him too. He had two red hand marks on his cheeks for two days afterwards. But I think Lily's slap was worse." They all looked over at Lily who was now talking quietly with Molly and Arthur. "She may seem small, but don't let that fool you. She has a huge temper and massive strength to match."

"Okay." Ron chuckled, "I'll just be sure to stay on her good side then."

They looked over at her again to see Lily laugh and nod at James before she got to her feet to get some tea for her and Remus. Nikki grinned at Ron, "That's usually the best. Most of us manage it fairly easily. She is such a sweetheart most of the time, it's just when people, namely Sirius, purposely annoy her, that's when it is best to get out of range."

"Well, I think it's time to go to bed!" Molly announced, getting up and pulling her husband to his feet. "Fred, George, Ron, you as well. George, Angelina will be wondering where you are."

"Nah, she won't. I said that I was coming to the Potters to prank the Marauders and she said that she was going to see Katie and Alicia and have a girls' night. She probably won't be home yet."

"Let's just hope she's not completely drunk and giving some random a lap dance, eh?" Sirius snickered, wiggling his eyebrows.

George didn't crack a smile as he stood up and walked slowly towards Sirius. "Don't make me light another firework, Sirius." He said quietly, "This time, I will make sure it doesn't only set fire to your hair." Sirius gulped and nodded.

Then George grinned and sat back down. "Besides, Ange would never do that. She did marry me after all." He smirked, "Anyway, it's not like that would be interesting for her, the amount of times she does it at home."

Fred laughed and gave his twin a high-five. Ron and Remus grinned before seeing the glares on their wives faces. Sirius laughed the loudest and ruffled Georges hair saying, "That's the way Georgie-boy! If you weren't an enemy of the Marauders, I would induct you right here." But upon seeing Nikki's expression, he sat down immediately.

But Mrs Weasley's voice overrode everyone else's. "GEORGE WEASLEY! How dare you say that about Angelina. Your poor wife is probably sitting at home, waiting for you, so you get home now and—"

The noise that cut off Molly was not something they had heard in a while, yet it was entirely familiar. Everyone slowly raised their eyes to the screen above their heads, and immediately there was screaming.

Hermione shrieked in shock, as did Tonks, her hands flying to her mouth. Lily, who was just walking in with a cup of tea for her and for Remus, looked up and dropped the cups, not that anyone noticed. Sirius, and Fred and George all jumped to their feet.

Then there was silence. "Well what the bloody hell are you waiting for?!" Fred yelled.

Everyone jumped up and followed him to the door, leaving the screen behind them with a name shining in blinding white. **HARRY POTTER**.

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**A/N: hahaha I did it again, didn't I? Sorry, i can't help the cliffies, they just seem to be the way it ends. sorry as well that it's a bit short, but the last big chapter is next and promise it will be bigger! Besides it's the chapter you've all been waiting for next so make sure those tissue boxes are handy!! hopefully it will be up to your standard, but all my lovely readers are very fair people so hopefully i won't have any angry reviews...**

**If you are not an angry person, or even if you are i suppose, REVIEW!! last chance to speculate on what's going to happen next! gj x**


	19. Epilogue Part 2

**A/N: Ok, here it is, the LAST CHAPTER!! *sob* i will save all the sappiness for the bottom so you don't have to wade through it here to get to the story. It's a longer chapter to make up for the torturous cliffie i left for you last chapter :) and i hope you have your tissues ready! it's going to be very emotional! **

**Lets get on with it shall we?**

**DISCLAIMER: for the last time i don't own Harry Potter!! how many times do i have to tell you! jeez...**

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****Epilogue Part 2**

"_Well what the bloody hell are you waiting for?!" Fred yelled._

_Everyone jumped up and followed him to the door, leaving the screen behind them with a name shining in blinding white. __**HARRY POTTER**__._

_Harry, Harry, Harry…I'm going to finally see my son…I'm going to meet him…_ Lily thought as she sprinted down the road with everyone else. James came up beside her and took her hand, and she knew that he was thinking the exact same thing. After almost one hundred years, they were going to see their son.

When they finally arrived at The Diamond Gates, they found to their utmost annoyance that they couldn't even see Harry, because most of Above had turned up to see him, shake his hand, thank him for saving the Wizarding World all those years ago. It wasn't really surprising, but everyone, especially Lily and James were irritated.

"Aw man!" James groaned as Lily sighed unhappily.

"It's going to take hours before we get to see him!" Fred complained.

"Shhhh!" Mrs Weasley hissed, "Fred, Harry is the reason many of these people got to live longer and happier lives, they deserve their time to meet him too."

"But _I _am not one of those people! I was killed at a young age! I had so much life and brilliance and I died! Besides, I knew Harry years before that."

Mrs Weasley stared at him before giving up. Meanwhile, Nikki and Sirius walked over to James and Lily.

"Well, you guys excited? You get to finally see Harry!" Nikki squealed.

"I know," Lily said quietly, "I don't think it has really hit home yet, though." James nodded beside her.

"Ah, but it will." Sirius grinned. "I personally am most overjoyed that I finally get to see my godson again after such a long time here. But I guess we should wait until everyone goes. I don't really want too many randoms watching the emotional reunion."

James smiled, "You're right I guess, Padfoot. I just want to see him. I don't want to have to wait."

"I know Prongs. I know."

"Hey guys," Remus walked over to join the other three, "Excited to see Harry again?"

"Why does everyone keep asking that?" snapped Lily, agitated from the nervousness of seeing her son, "Of course we are excited, what would you expect?"

"Whoa, sorry." Remus backed up a bit, raising his hands in surrender.

"Ignore it, Moony." Sirius said, rolling his eyes at Lily, "I think it's that time of the month."

"Sirius!" Lily slapped his arm, while the three men chuckled.

"Yeah I think you might be right there, mate." James laughed.

"Oh, honestly!" Lily grumbled, storming away from them, dragging a giggling Nikki with her.

The group waited anxiously to see Harry, and eventually the crowd began to thin. After a few more minutes, they could see a black, messy hair that stuck up at the back through the many heads in the crowd. Then after even longer, they could see his face. He was smiling at everyone, graciously accepting their praise and thanks, sometimes standing with them to talk for a little.

Lily sucked in a quick breath when she caught sight of his grown up face. She felt familiar arms wrap around her waist from behind, and she turned slightly to smile at James. "He looks just like you."

"I know." He said, then laughed quietly, "Lucky guy."

She rolled her eyes and continued to watch her son slowly make his through the crowd. She couldn't take her eyes off him. He hadn't seen them yet, because he hadn't looked up. Maybe he wasn't expecting them.

She had a sudden flash of the last time she had seen him all those years ago. He was only a tiny infant, sitting in his cot, not making a sound as Voldemort closed in on them. He had looked up at Lily with such innocent and happy eyes that her heart had broken. Now, here he was. He was standing just a few metres from her, so much older and with so much more knowledge and wisdom. Who would have guessed that one night at Godric's Hollow would have changed Harry's life so entirely? She died to save him and give him a chance at living a long and happy life. He had done just that, and now he was with her again and she knew he would be here, with her, to stay.

Sirius came over to them when there were only a few more people left in Harry's crowd of admirers and interrupted Lily's train of thought, "Okay, I reckon he will see us in a sec, so you guys have to stay behind the Weasleys."

"Why on earth would we do that?" James asked indignantly.

"Because," Sirius answered slowly, as if he were talking to a small child, "I want him to see you at the end. Save the best for last and everything."

But Lily and James, being the stubborn people that they were, refused to give in. It took a few minutes of arguing and a few more minutes of calm persuasion from Remus that finally resulted in them both sighing, "Fine."

So Sirius walked over to the Weasleys and dragged them all over to stand in front of Lily and James, then he dragged Remus and Tonks over to stand next to him.

"Gee, you got this all planned out, don't you Siri?" Tonks asked.

He grinned cheekily at her, "Sure do. I mean, what else do you do when you have ninety odd years free waiting for one particular person?"

She rolled her eyes at him just as Mrs Weasley said, "Harry…it's so good to see you."

Harry had turned after seeing off the last members of the crowd to find all of the Weasleys standing in front of him with huge smiles on their faces. It shocked him, to say the least.

Mrs Weasley gave him the very familiar hug that he had missed dearly as she sobbed into his shoulder. "Harry…you're finally here…we missed you…"

"I missed you too, Molly." He laughed quietly.

"C'mon dear, don't choke him," Mr Weasley said as he gently pulled his wife off Harry to greet him. "How's my daughter going, Harry?"

"Perfectly fine, I believe." Harry said, "I mean I am here, so I don't really know for sure." He sighed, "I miss her already though."

Arthur laughed, "That's what I wanted to hear."

After shaking hands and hugging the other Weasleys, Harry saw Ron and Hermione. He grinned as Hermione ran over and gave him a huge hug.

"Welcome back, Harry." She said, kissing his cheek.

"Hi Hermione, you look good."

"Oh thank you Harry!" She smiled brightly at him, "I feel very well."

"Been taking care of her, Ron?" Harry asked his best mate as they shared a manly hug.

"Sure have, mate." They grinned at each other, happy to be back together.

"Excuse me, but I would like to see Harry too." A voice said, pulling Ron out of the way. He looked up at Harry's surprised and sad expression. "Hey Harry."

"Fred." Harry muttered, pulling him into a tight hug. "It's been so long."

"It has, hasn't it?" Fred said

"I'm so sorry, Fred." Harry whispered, close to tears, "About that night. I never wanted you to die…everyone was devastated…I'm sorry."

"Harry, it's not your fault." Fred pulled back to look at him. "Please don't say that, because I don't blame you for a single thing." He grinned at him. "I _do _blame you, however for stealing my little sister from us. You better have taken good care of her."

Harry laughed, trying to ignore the tears. "Of course. You know, if I didn't love her as much as I do, I wouldn't have tried to take her away from your family at all. I mean, all the Weasley brothers can be a bit intimidating."

"Too right." Fred chuckled, "At least you were lucky because you knew that her parents loved you before you actually started dating. You had a head start."

"I suppose." Harry smiled, but it faded slightly when he said, "I just wish you were there Fred. She missed you so much. We wanted the _entire _Weasley family around."

"Harry! Don't say that. I am really happy here, and of course I missed you and my family more then anything, but shut up, okay? Listen carefully, mate. _I don't blame you. _I died defending the world from evil and that is the best way to go, I reckon. Trust me, out of everyone who died that night, no one regretted it. If anything, we were glad to get out of that hell hole. I mean, if you hadn't killed Voldy, it would have been better to be dead." He smiled at him, tears in his eyes and Harry laughed. Then Fred turned to look behind him and say to someone that Harry couldn't see, "Isn't that right, guys?"

"Not really, Fred, but you can think whatever you want." Remus said as he walked towards Harry, but Tonks got to him first.

"Harry! It's so good to see you!"

"Tonks…" Harry managed to get out, almost strangled by her hug and blinded by the tears that were still in his eyes. He looked over her shoulder at Remus "I didn't want you to die…either of you…I'm so sorry."

"Harry, stop." Remus said, "I know it's been said before, but we don't blame you, it wasn't your fault. And don't argue, because we won't listen. And err, Dora, I don't think he can breathe…"

"Oops! Sorry Harry." She sheepishly stepped back as Harry laughed, but then his tears spilled over when Remus embraced him.

"Harry, it is so good to see you again."

"You too, Remus….it has been far too long."

"Indeed it has." He inhaled deeply.

Then Harry remembered something, "Remus, I just want to tell you how much you really did mean to me. I mean, you were like a second godfather, and I really appreciate everything you did for me."

Remus closed his eyes, trying to stop the tears. "Thank you, Harry. That really means so much to me. Especially coming from you. You really are a godson to me anyway, just don't tell Sirius I said that."

Harry laughed, "I won't. And I mean, I'm pretty sure I have you to thank for teaching me all that stuff in Defence Against the Dark Arts. It really helped me. And of course, I don't think I would have ever learnt to do a proper Patronus if it weren't for you. You saved my life that year, not to mention Sirius's with all the Dementors."

"Well, that's not really out of the ordinary. I have had to save Sirius's life several times at school and afterward." Remus laughed, "But I really appreciate that, Harry. Seems like that was the only good thing I taught that year."

"Oh no, don't say that. You were the best teacher we had for that subject! You were brilliant. Everybody thought so."

Remus smiled, "Thank you Harry." There was silence for a moment, before he said quietly, "We really missed you."

"I missed you guys too, so much." Harry said as he stepped back to smile at them both.

"So, how is our Teddy?" Tonks asked, beaming at her son's name.

"He's great. He has a lovely wife, and two fantastic kids. They both have kids as well. He's really happy." He smiled at their glowing faces. "I told him all about you two when he was little. He always asked about you, he really missed you. He still does, but he knows why you died and your sacrifice and it means the world to him."

They both looked so happy. Tonks even had tears in her eyes. "That is just so—"

"Oi! You can talk about that later. Teddy can wait." Sirius said loudly, purposefully walking forward. "I want to see my godson."

Harry's throat constricted and the tears fell faster. "Sirius." He choked out.

Sirius smiled widely, tears in his eyes too and stepped forward to hug him. "Harry."

"It's been so long, Sirius." Harry muttered through the tears falling silently down his cheeks. He swallowed, "I really missed you."

"I know, mate." Sirius said quietly, "There hasn't been a single day since I got here that I didn't think about you." He felt Harry nod, and Sirius took a deep breath. "I am so proud of you Harry. Of everything you have done. I am extremely proud to call myself your godfather."

"Thank you Sirius. That means so much to me."

"'Course it does! It's totally true. It's my best claim to fame—'Harry Potter's Godfather'. Then in second it's 'Greatest Shagger Ever to pass through Hogwarts'."

Harry laughed quietly, but was quiet again. "When you died, it was so sudden…" he murmured, "I couldn't—you were gone…I was really upset, Sirius. You were family. The only family I had left."

"Now, Harry you know that's not true." Sirius said, trying to ignore his tears, "You had the Weasleys and Remus and Tonks, and all your friends. They are all your family as well. But I'm sorry that I had to leave you like that so suddenly. I wasn't ready to go, but what can you do?"

"Yeah." He swallowed thickly. "I'm so sorry, Sirius."

"Don't be sorry, Harry! I died protecting you, and I am very happy with that. I was reunited with my best mate and everyone. Don't ever be sorry, Harry."

"Thanks Sirius. You were a great godfather, even if you were in prison for most of my life."

"Yeah, I know. I always had a way with these things." Sirius chuckled, then pulled back to look at his godson. "You look older then the last time I saw you. And happier."

Harry smiled, "Yeah well. Knowing that a dark wizard isn't trying to kill me does brighten my outlook considerably."

Sirius laughed. "I would imagine so. But my sources also tell me that a certain red haired maiden has something to do with it as well." He winked.

"Maybe..."

"Ah well, I will get it out of you soon enough. But now I want you to meet someone very special to me." He dragged Nikki forward, "Nik, this is Harry. Harry, this is my girlfriend Nikki."

"She's more like your wife, Sirius!" George yelled, "You've been together for what, a hundred years?"

"Insignificant details." Sirius shrugged, smiling.

"Hi Harry, it is so wonderful to finally meet you." Nikki beamed, almost running forward to give him a tight hug. "It is amazing to actually meet my best friends' son."

Harry smiled, a little taken aback, but when she mentioned being best friend's with his parents, he understood. "Thank you, I'm very happy to see that Sirius has found someone. Especially someone so beautiful."

"Oi, mate! Watch what you say. Imagine what Ginny would do if she found out!" Ron said, and Harry made a face at him.

Nikki laughed with everyone else, "You seem to have inherited your father's charm."

"Hey! I would like to take some credit for that! Everyone knows I am incredibly charming." Sirius pouted.

"Oh, alright, Sirius, you can contribute to my perfect charm too." Harry joked.

"Well, it really is great to meet you, Harry. I have been best friends with Lily since first year and I know her better then anyone." Nikki patted his arm, "She has missed you more then she lets on, James too, of course.

I must say, you look just like James." Nikki frowned, looking him up and down, "But you have—"

"My mum's eyes. Yeah, I get that a lot." Everyone laughed.

Then there was silence, and Harry began to wonder where his parents were. He was absolutely dying to see them. He was about to ask when there came a yell from behind the Weasleys. "Padfoot! We're dying back here!"

Sirius laughed loudly, "Okay, you can come out now, I won't be _too _mean. Harry, mate, we have _loads_ of time to catch up later, but right now, there are two people who have been waiting to see you for almost one hundred years. I have tried to build up the suspense and everything, make it more dramatic, you know? But I think they will probably rip my head off if I kept you any longer. Patience isn't really their specialty." He added quietly.

"Hey! We heard that!"

"I know!" Sirius yelled back, then he turned to Harry. "Wait here."

Harry watched as he ran back behind the Weasleys to pull out two people who were very familiar but Harry didn't know them very well at all. He stood there, stunned as they beamed at him. The woman's face was already awash with tears and she wiped them away hurriedly. Sirius came up behind them, flinging an arm around each of their shoulders. "Lily and James Potter, this is your son, Harry."

James rolled his eyes, "Really, Padfoot?"

"Really, Prongs."

Harry felt like he couldn't move, like his brain had stopped working. He was finally meeting his parents properly. All his life he had wanted them back, and now he had and he didn't know how to react. Luckily, Lily did it for him.

"Harry!" she said as she ran to him and hugged him tightly. He hugged her back as she cried into his shoulder.

"Mum." He choked out, and he felt the weirdest relief at finally being able to call someone that. The moment was so surreal. Harry couldn't believe that he was finally here, holding his mother tightly. All his life, his only wish was to have his parents back and now he did, but he didn't know how to feel. It was only a little thing, only two normal people, but was so much to take in.

"Oh, Harry…I finally have my son back," Lily muttered through her sobs. "I have my little boy, back." She took a deep breath. "I can finally hug you." She smiled at him, "You're a lot bigger then the last time I could do that, though."

He laughed through tears as she hugged him again. They stood there, quiet, for a long minute before Lily said, "I love you, Harry. I always have and I always will. I hope you know that. I hope you did for your whole life when I wasn't there to tell you myself."

"I did." He said thickly. "I love you too. I missed you." His brain didn't seem to be able to process the fact that he was really here, his mother hugging him tightly.

"Oh baby, I missed you too. Your father and I missed you more then you can possibly imagine. We thought about you ten times a day. We worried about you so much. It was so hard for us to just sit here, knowing our son was down there, fighting that evil monster. I'm so sorry Harry. For everything."

"No, don't be!" Harry said, stepping back to look at his mother properly, looking into her eyes, the exact same as his. "Don't ever be sorry! It wasn't your fault, and I never blamed you for anything. You are the reason that I survived, the reason I lived my life. Don't ever be sorry…I should be thanking you. You saved my life…"

She burst into tears again. "Harry, thank you for saying that. I needed to hear that." She looked up at him, taking a deep breath. "I am so proud to be your mother. You have grown up into a great man, and I love you so much."

"Me too." And Harry looked up to see his father walking towards them slowly, smiling. "Harry. It's so good to see you, son."

"Dad." Harry said embracing him tightly. His father hugged him back, both of them crying heavily. Harry took a deep, shaky breath. "I love you."

"I love you too, my son. More then you know." James said, "And I am so proud of you, of everything you have done. It makes me so happy to hear about you and what you have achieved. I just wish I was there to see it all."

"I wish you were too, but you died to save me and that just about makes up for everything."

James chuckled lightly. "Well, I suppose. You have no idea how much your mother and I missed you, son. We couldn't go an hour without thinking of you. And we are so proud of you. You can't even fathom how proud. It's almost painful." He smiled, "People still come up to us in the street and thank us for dying for you and for what you have done, even almost a hundred years on. And every time someone does, I am so proud to be able to say, I am your dad. When you defeated Voldemort, I have ever never been so happy and that was _the_ proudest moment of my life. I was most definitely the proudest father in the entire world."

It was amazing to hear all this from the two people who he had to live his whole life without. They just stood there, holding each other, making up for a few minutes of lost time. Harry smiled as they eventually pulled back. "I'm so happy to finally meet you."

"We know." James said as Lily came up beside him. "Trust me, we have waited a hundred years to see you again properly. And it was not fun."

Lily nodded, turning to her husband, "Look at him, James! Look at our little boy! He's all grown up. And so handsome!"

Harry laughed as James said, "Well of course he is! He is my son after all. All Potters are blessed with stunning good looks."

Lily rolled her eyes. "Harry, we have so much to tell you…so much we have wanted to say since we died. I really don't know where to begin—"

"Sorry I'm late. I got caught up." A voice came from behind the group, "I know that you are all very emotional, and want Harry all to yourselves, but I would also like to see him. I have several things to say."

Harry's eyes widened as a tall figure wearing bright purple robes stepped around the Weasleys. He was so much younger then Harry had ever imagined and he looked very odd without his long silver beard and crooked nose.

Dumbledore smiled brightly. "Harry. How good it is to see you."

"Professor Dumbledore." Harry managed to choke out, unsure of what to do, but then Dumbledore extended his arms, and Harry smiled, almost running over to give the once-old man a hug that was eighty years overdue. Harry's eyes filled with tears again as Dumbledore hugged him tightly and Harry suddenly felt like a little boy hugging his grandfather.

"Harry, I just came to say how proud I am of you." Dumbledore smiled at him after a minute, his bright blue eyes full of tears. "I knew when I was setting you that task that it would be dangerous but I also knew that if anyone could do it, it would be you. You made me so proud to have been your headmaster."

"You were way more then that, sir." Harry said, "You were my protector when I was younger, and you were my mentor. Even in those last years and after Hogwarts. I couldn't have defeated Riddle without you. You were the bravest, smartest man I ever knew."

Dumbledore's tears spilled over, "Thank you, Harry, thank you for still believing that, even after the task I set you on. I know you must have felt confused and sometimes betrayed at the things I didn't tell you—like my family and my past and I am so sorry. I regret it now, not trusting you with that information, and I was worried that you would think ill of me. I just want you to know, that even though I didn't tell you those things, I still cared for you like you were my family. And I am so proud of you, of all the things you have achieved, almost as much as your real family." He glanced over at Lily and James who were watching with smiles on their faces, "Almost. I don't think it is possible to be as proud as them, but I like to think I come close."

He chuckled and Harry laughed, touched at how much Dumbledore cared. "Dumbledore, I think that what you did—setting me on the road to defeat Riddle, trusting men no one else trusted, finding those first few Horcruxes—that all makes you so much braver then me."

Dumbledore laughed again and shook his head modestly. They smiled at each other for a moment before Harry said, "I named my second boy after you…and Snape. Albus Severus Potter." He smiled at the thought of his child.

A few more touched tears slipped out from beneath Dumbledore's glasses, "Oh Harry, thank you. That means so much to me. I am touched that you did that, and so would Severus, I'm sure."

"Hey, Harry! Why didn't you name one of your kids after me?" Sirius interrupted, feigning hurt and interrupting the quiet moment, as usual, "I am your godfather!"

"I did."

"Why didn't you—oh. Thanks Harry." Sirius's eyes looked unusually soft as he ruffled his godson's hair. "First name or middle name?"

"Middle name. James Sirius Potter."

"Aw man! Why'd you have to put James first? He always wins!" Sirius pouted. James laughed and came over to give Harry a happy, thank you hug.

"Then you should be used to it by now, Pads." He chuckled, punching Sirius in the arm.

Sirius flipped his best friend off, rubbing his arm and Harry laughed. "Ginny liked James Sirius better but I didn't really care either way. Take it up with her if you have a problem."

"Fine. I will." Sirius huffed and Nikki laughed, taking his hand.

"You might have a problem there, babe. She isn't here."

"Oh yeah." He agreed, looking around, then he seemed to notice Dumbledore's presence. "Hey Dumbledore!"

He laughed before he replied with good humour, "Hello Sirius. You look well."

"Why thank you, sir. You don't look too shabby yourself. Did you do something with your beard?"

Dumbledore smiled and fingered the short auburn hair, "No I didn't. Does it look different? Arianna keeps begging me to shave it all off and go for a new look, but I don't quite agree." He winked at Harry, "She can be quite demanding sometimes."

Harry grinned at the happiness in Dumbledore's eyes and he knew that he was really in heaven being back with his family.

"Ooh, and who might this Ari—" Sirius started, only to be interrupted by a small thud from behind them and they all turned slowly to see a young woman standing up and brushing herself off. Her long red hair was covering her face as she turned around to look behind her, but Harry didn't need to see her face to know exactly who it was.

"Ginny…"

She spun around at the sound of his voice, and as soon as she caught sight of him, she gasped, then threw herself into his arms. Harry smiled and held her tightly, incredibly surprised but happy that she was now here with him. When she lifted her head to look at him with shining eyes, he leaned down and kissed her.

After a couple of seconds they heard a quiet giggle, and they broke apart to see Hermione standing there, her hands covering her mouth to stop her laughter.

Harry frowned at her. "What's so funny?"

"Oh, nothing." She answered removing her hands to show the big grin on her face. "It's only that what you did just now, with Ginny running to you and you kissing her, it just gave me a major flashback to a certain Quidditch Grand Final." She giggled again, this time with everyone else joining in. Harry and Ginny just grinned at each other.

"I'm so happy you're here, Gin." Harry said, "I was already feeling lost without you."

She smiled, "Yeah, well it doesn't really surprise me at how long I could live without you. I'm really glad to be here though, as much as I will miss everyone back there."

"Yeah, but you're here with us now." Ron laughed stepping forward to give his little sister a hug, "That should mean a lot more then any other boring sods on Earth."

"You just keep thinking that, Ron." Ginny grinned, then went to go hug Hermione. As Harry watched the two girls hug and whisper quietly, he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"So that's Ginny?" His mother murmured, "She she seems like a lovely girl, and she's really beautiful, Harry."

"She is." Harry smiled, still watching his wife, but then he looked back at his parents. "How do they have that much to talk about?" He said, indicating to Hermione and Ginny still whispering, "More importantly, _what_ could they possibly be talking about?"

"No idea, son." James sighed, "All girls are like that though, I never understood."

Lily just smiled. "They just have a lot of catching up to do." Then she sighed in exasperation when she saw the confusion on their faces. But Ginny and Hermione got no more time to catch up, because the Weasley's wanted to see their daughter.

"Hah!" Sirius yelled loudly to Nikki as Ginny hugged her parents, "See she is here! Won't be as hard as you thought to ask her now, will it my dear?" Nikki just rolled her eyes and put a hand over his mouth to shut him up and let Ginny have her moment. She squealed and jumped away when he licked her palm. Glaring at him, she stalked over to go stand with Lily and James and Harry.

After Ginny had lived through the strangling hugs of all her family, she was faced with one of her brothers who she hadn't seen for ninety years. She immediately burst into tears.

"Hey Ginny." Fred muttered, now crying too as he hugged her sister. She sobbed into his shoulder.

"Fred…I missed you so much." She choked out, "I love you, and I really missed you."

"I love you too, Ginny. You're my baby sister, and I missed you everyday I was here, but you're here now, and we can catch up."

She nodded into his shoulder and hugged him tighter, "It wasn't the same without you, Fred. No one was the same without you." She took a deep breath, "I can't believe I can talk to you again. All those times I wanted to talk to you…and you…you w-weren't there. You couldn't comfort me or make me laugh like you did when I was younger."

"We have plenty of time for that." Fred murmured, rubbing her back softly and trying to ignore his own flowing tears, "but first you have to tell me all about why you decided to marry such a wanker."

She laughed quietly when she heard Harry's offended protest and nodded, before catching sight of Remus and Tonks.

"Tonks! Remus!"

She hugged them tightly, tears still flowing, murmuring how much she missed them. She spent a few quiet minutes talking to them, before Sirius did what he did best, interrupting her.

He snuck up behind her, indicating to Remus and Tonks to continue talking, then suddenly covered her eyes with his hands. "Guess who?" he said in an outrageously high and squeaky voice.

Ginny tried to contain her laugh as she said, "Hmm, let me think, who is stupid enough to believe I would fall for that voice…Sirius!"

She spun around and hugged him, ignoring his grumbles about "not being stupid". "Sirius, I really missed you."

"Aw, I missed you too, Ginny. It just hasn't been the same without my favourite, youngest red head." She laughed as he let her go. "You know, Ginny, I knew from the moment I saw you that you and Harry were going to get married."

Everyone laughed at that, and Sirius looked offended. "I did! Okay, so maybe not when I _first _saw you, but not long after that, I knew that you and my godson were made for each other."

"Sure, sure, Siri." Came a voice from behind Ginny, and she turned around to see a pretty woman with long, silky blonde hair and a smile on her face walk up to them.

"I did!" Sirius repeated indignantly.

"Okay, sweetheart." Nikki patted his arm, then turned to Ginny. "Seeing as Sirius doesn't seem to want to introduce me, I thought I would myself." She smiled and reached for Ginny's hand, squeezing it gently. "I'm Nikki, it's so wonderful to meet you. I've heard a lot about you."

"Thank you. It's nice to meet you too." Ginny asked, looking slightly confused.

"Oh! Sorry, how silly of me." Nikki laughed, shaking her head at herself, "You don't even know who I am. I am Lily's best friend since first year at Hogwarts, and even though he has failed to mention it, I am Sirius's girlfriend and have been since sixth year."

"Sirius's girlfriend?" Repeated Ginny, "Wow, that's great!" Then she frowned at Sirius, "Of course, you should have mentioned that earlier, Sirius, it's good manners."

"Sorry! I didn't know, I kind of forgot." He muttered.

"Well! Shows how much you love me!" Nikki stormed off in a huff, but Ginny managed to catch a glimpse of the small smile on her face.

"No, Nik! I do love you, wait!" Sirius said, running after her, looking worried. Ginny laughed, then felt a warm hand slip into hers. She smiled at Harry, and said, "She's really his girlfriend? What's the story with that?"

He laughed, "Well, I don't really know, but from what I've heard, they are practically married. They've been together for almost a hundred years, I think."

"Sure have." Came a deep voice behind them, and Ginny saw a man and a woman walking towards them. The man looked just like Harry only with hazel eyes, and the woman had deep red hair, and green eyes that Ginny would recognize anywhere. Her breath caught in her throat.

"They started dating in Hogwarts, at the end of sixth year." The man was saying, with an amused smile on his face, "Then Nikki was killed by Death Eaters when we were just out of school, effectively putting a pause on the relationship, but then when Sirius came up here, they started up again. I'll let you in on a little secret though," he whispered, "They really love each other."

Ginny smiled, and Harry laughed, "Oooh, big secret, Dad. You can see that from one glance at them." James laughed and shrugged. Ginny couldn't help but smile, seeing Harry, the man she had loved for basically all her life, and who she had seen go through some terrible things, looking so happy. Especially to have his parents back: he was practically glowing.

Lily came forward then and hugged Ginny tightly, "It is so wonderful to meet you, Ginny." She murmured, "We have wanted to see you for so long now, and we are overjoyed that you have made our son so happy." She smiled as she pulled back. "I'm Lily."

Ginny beamed, her own eyes tearing at the sight of Lily's wet emeralds. "I know, and it is so fantastic to finally meet you. All my life I have wanted to meet the two amazing people who sacrificed their lives so their son could live."

"Thank you very much." Lily smiled, "We really appreciate that, and we have no regrets over it. The hardest part was not being there for him for his entire life, though." Ginny nodded.

James hugged her too, "I'm James Potter. And my wife pretty much said it all. I really don't have that much to add, apart from saying that I'm very proud my son managed to make such a beautiful woman marry him."

"Thank you!" Ginny blushed slightly, "And I can see where Harry gets his good looks from."

"Well, thank you, my dear." James grinned, his ego properly stroked "I like this one, Harry, she's a keeper." Harry rolled his eyes and squeezed Ginny's hand.

"Well, aren't you two just the cutest?" Sirius said loudly, coming back with Nikki, the fight evidently over. "I will say it again, just because I can. I knew you were made for each other. I even told Prongsie and Lilyflower, didn't I guys? Just one of the many things I was right about."

"Yeah, Just like you were right that the Canons were going to win in Quidditch?" Nikki asked innocently, "But how long has it been since they have won a game? Seventy years?"

"Ten, actually." Harry said with a wink at Ginny.

"Only ten? They hadn't won a game since I was in first year, last time I checked." James said, frowning at his son. "And that was maybe the year Voldemort fell. How in the world did they manage to win?"

"Ask Ginny." Harry grinned, "She was on the team the first year they won a game in over twenty years, ending their losing streak."

Everyone except the Weasleys, who of course already knew this, stared at Ginny. "Yeah, I was chaser." She admitted, "My first game on the team."

"_You _made them win?" James exclaimed, thoroughly impressed, "I _really_ like this girl, Harry." He said, turning to his son. "It may be a bit late, but better late then never." He shook her hand enthusiastically, "Welcome to the family."

Everybody laughed. "Well, Gin, seems like you have no problem with in-laws." Ron chuckled

"That may be so. But as I am just like a third parent to Harry, I do have a bone to pick with you, Weasley." Sirius commented

"You know that I'm not a Weasley anymore, Sirius. I have been a Potter for so long now." She didn't turn around to see the happy glance James and Lily exchanged.

He frowned, "That is not the point. I am not annoyed that you stole my godson's heart, as I predicted you would, and that you got married and had lots of red and black haired babies," Ginny smiled and started to say something, but Sirius cut her off, "_but_ I am annoyed that because of all that, you turned him into a big softie who I don't like anymore."

"Hey!"

Sirius ignored Harry. "You see, ever since he married you, he has gone completely mushy."

"Mushy! What are you saying about mushy, Padfoot? Potter men aren't 'mushy', we are full of courage and pride. We are men!" James said loudly, puffing out his chest.

Lily rolled her eyes, "Of course you are, James. You are all tough and manly, so it must have been your twin that cried when we heard Harry at our graves that Christmas, and that shed a few tears when he defeated Voldemort."

"Shut up." James muttered. Lily grinned triumphantly.

"Wait, you heard me at your graves?" Harry asked.

"Oh no! Not this story!" Sirius cried dramatically, "Don't get them started."

"It's true." Remus agreed, "They do talk about it a lot."

"Well, we can explain all that later." Lily said, shooting Remus a glare, but he just innocently looked at Tonks.

"That's right!" Sirius said loudly, cutting over what Lily was saying, "I have another thing I'm not happy with, Weasley." Ginny smothered the amused smile and tried to look concerned as she faced him again, "Why did you have to name your kid James Sirius and not Sirius James! I wanted to be first!" he whined

Ginny laughed, but before she could answer, Lily stepped in, "Sirius she can explain all about that later. I, as the mother-in-law, wow it's so weird saying that," she muttered distractedly, then continued, "I get to interrogate first."

Sirius mumbled, "Fine," and motioned for her to continue.

She smiled in triumph and turned back to her son and his wife, "First, I want to learn all about you! I want to learn all about Hogwarts, and your friends. Then about how you got together, and your wedding, and your children and grandchildren—"

James cut across her before they could be too overwhelmed, "Lily, honey, why don't we just go back home. _Then _we can chat."

She sighed but agreed, "Okay, sorry. I'm just so happy to finally have my little boy here!" She cried, hugging Harry again. "And Ginny, of course." She smiled, squeezing Ginny's free hand.

"I know, Lil. I am too." James laughed, "This has got to be the happiest moment of my life."

"But Jamesie, you're dead!" Sirius said, coming up to them and patting him on the back, "It can't be the happiest moment of your life if you are not living."

James sighed and glared at his best friend. "Fine. The happiest moment of my…existence." His wife nodded firmly in agreement.

Harry smiled, looking around. The entire Weasely family, Dumbledore, Remus and Tonks, Ron and Hermione, Sirius and Nikki, Ginny, and most of all, his parents; they were all there, beaming at him. Everyone he loved was finally around him, and never in his entire life had he felt so happy, and so whole. It didn't matter that he was technically dead.

So, without a single, tiny speck of doubt in his mind, he said "Me too."

* * *

**A/N: So now we come to the sappiness! This was such an amazing journey, writing this story and i thought it couldn't get better after i had posted it the first time. I was wrong! To all of my readers, you are absolutely incredible and i love you all. You have given me nothing but warm praise and its so encouraging to read every day. THANK YOU :)**

**I also have to thank coffeykrum who was kind of like me beta/HP consultant as i was writing it and editting it and you should all be jealous coz she was the first one to read everything!! To my friends who put up with me when i was stressing about this damn story, thank you, and to all my readers again, especially the ones that stuck with me the second time around to read all the improvements it wouldn't be the same without you.**

**LOVE YOU ALL! gj xx**

**Love it? Hate it? you know what to do! its the last time to do it!!**


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